^ /^ ^>' V yS^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1^ 121 115 ■ 2.2 Hi 2.0 I m Photographic Sciences Corporation 1.25 1^ 1 1.6 ^ 6" ► ¥e> \ Falls of Chaudiero .... Quebec — View of - - - - Plains of Abraham - - . . Death of Wolfe - . _ . Its Fortifications - . . . Death of General Montgomery - • Castle of St. Louis - - . _ The late Duke of Richmond ... General Remarks on Quebec ... The River St. Lawrence Montreal Miscellaneous Remarks ... Departure from Canada - _ , _ Burlington, in Vermont, to Hanover, in New Hampshire Hanover « - - . . Ride down Connecticut River - - . Bellows Falls - • • « Decrfield - « - Hatfield and Hadloy - - - . Hartford - - - - Vau- m 6'4 6G 66 67 68 69 70 70 71 72 72 73 74 74 77 79 81 82 85 87 88 88 93 92 99 102 105 105 110 113 115 117 120 122 123 12S 124 127 1 28 128 i Va,:" 02 G4 6() (iG G7 68 69 70 70 71 72 72 73 74 74 77 79 81 82 85 87 88 88 92 92 99 102 105 105 110 113 116 117 120 122 123 128 124 127 128 128 1 DESCRIPTION OF TflE ENGRAVINGS. PLATE T. Approach to Quebec from the South-west. This sketch, taken from the steam-boat, was commenoed about three or four miles above the city, and when we were passing every moment rapidly along. It was unavoidably subjected to the disadvantage of constant change of position ; but, as it fortunately happened, this circumstance rather augmented the distinctness, than altered the re- lative position of the principal objects. Ou the right, is exhibited part of the promontory of Point Levi, witli a glimpse of a few of the houses and ships at its foot. In the remote view, down the river, are seen some of the highlands, beyond the falls of Montmorenci, on the left bank of the river, and of the dis- tance of from ten to fifteen miles. Immediately before the observer, is the smooth expanse of the river, with some of the numerous ships and boats that adorn its surface On the left, and nearest at hand, a beautiful copse of wood, with some buildings at its feet, just intercepts the view of Wolfe's Cove, which lies between this grove and the high bank on which stands the nearest round tower ; only the opening of the cove is seen. Then come the heights on which are the plains of Abraham, and upon them the Martello towers, two of which only are from this position visible ; the view of two others is cut off by the intervening heights. Further on appears Cape Diamond, composed of almost perpendicular pre- cipices of naked rock, three hundred and forty-five feet in the greatest height. The walls and towers of massy stone, pierced and cut down for embrasures, and crowned with the flag-staff and colours that ap- pear on this Cape, constitute the Citadel of Quebec. Immediately at the foot of this precipice is the commencement of the lower town, which is continued around the foot of the rock ; only a very small part of it, and no portion of the houses of the upper town, is visible from this point of view. PLATES II. AND III. Lake George from Fort George, and Lake George from the Village of Caldwell. In the first of these Views, the observer being at Fort George, situated, as I have already remarked, at some distance from the southern shore of the lake, and in a direction about mid-way between Vlll DESCRIPTION OF THK EN'ti RAVIN f; S. its eastern and western sides, contemplates a prospect considerably dilFerent from that seen in the other position. The eastern barrier is now much less in view : the promontory, where the lake turns off to the right, and is lost among the mountains, and .where north-west bay stretches to the left, and appears boumded by very high mountains, is immediately before him, at the distance of about twelve miles ; the islands in view are more numerous, and give greater variety to the now more extended surface of the lake ; and, immediately at the observer's feet, is the acclivity, by which we ascend from the lake to the old fort, upon the walls of which we are supposed to stand, and they, of course, are not in view. On the very shore we observe one of the old barracks, formerly belonging to the fort, now exhibiting a tavern sign, and till within a few years constituting the only place of accommodation to those who visited Lake George. At this place, although principally covered by the water, are the ruins of the old military quay or pier, formerly extending a good way into the lake, and affording important facilities to the numerous expeditions that have sailed upon Lake George. The second view is taken from the water's edge, in front of the public-house, in the village of Caldwell, which stands on the very shore of the south-western side of the lake, and, of course, leaves that vil- lage in the rear, and exhibits, as the most prominent objects, the moun- tains on the eastern shore, forming a strong contrast with the peaceful bosom of the lake. Several of the islands are in sight, and pleasantly diversify the uniform surface of the water, the view of which, to the north and north-west, is necessarily limited by the position of the observer. PLATE IV. Monte Video — Approach to the House. This view will give some ocular illustration of the scenery on the top of the mountain. It exhibits a view of the lake, the cultivated lawn, the buildings, the surrounding forest, and rocky pinnacles and tower; but still it must be remembered, that they give only some parts of the scene on the top of the mountain, without conveying any adequate idea of the altitude of the place, and scarcely a glimpse of the remote scenery. Indeed, the full illustration of the beauties of this mountain would require a port-folio of views, and would form a fine subject for the pencil of a master. As the beauty and grandeur of this place depend principally upon certain general facts relative to the geological structure and conse- quent scenery of the middle region of Connecticut, the most origmal are sketched in a very general way in the course of the text. V 1 tl ft i\ Ic d 1( SI SI 3 o I r TOUR TO QUEBEC, , Sfc. Sfc. «'^> JxELAXATION and health, and the gratification of a rea- sonable curiosity, were our immediate motives for undertaking this journey. On the 21st of September we left Hartford for Albany. A blustering equinoctial had been howling for two days, but without rain, and, as a severe drought had long prevailed, clouds of dust rose, in incessant eddies, and driving betbre a violent wind, filled the atmosphere, and enve- loped every object. We were not, however, prevented by the storm of sand and dust from setting out, nor, by the rain which soon followed, from proceeding. The tine turnpike upon which we commenced our journey was, but a few years since, a most rugged uncomfortable road; now we passed it with ease and rapidity, scarcely perceiving its beautiful undulations, which, gradually rising, as we receded from the Connecticut river, brought us, within little more than an hour, to the foot of Talcot mountain. MONTE VIDEO. After constantly ascending, for nearly three miles, we reached the highest ridge of the mountain, from which a steep declivity of a few rods brought us to a small rude plain, terminated at a short distance by the western brow, down which the same fine turnpike-road is continued. From this plain, the traveller who wishes to visit a spot called Monte Video, remarkable for the extraordinary beauty of its natural scenery, will turn directly to the north, into an obscure road, cut through the woods, by the proprietor of the place to which it conducts. The road is rough, and the view bounded on the east by the ridge which, in many places, rises in perpendicular cliffs, to more than one hundred feet above the general surface of the summit of the mountain. On the west, you are so shut in by trees, that it is only occa- sionally, and for a moment, that you perceive there is a valley immeduitely below you. VoYAGJ',8 «Hr7 Travels, Vol. VH. B t Tour to Quebec, I At the end of a mile and an half, the road terminates at a tenant's house, built in the Gothic '"tyle, and through a gate of the same description you enter the cultivated part of this very singular country-residence. Here the scene is immediately chanjtfed. The trees no longer intercept your view upon the left, and you look almost perpen- diculany into a valley of extreme beauty, and great extent, in the highest state of cultivation, and which, although apparently within reach, is 640 feet below you. At the right, the ridge, which has, until now, been your boundary, and seemed an im- passable barrier, suddenly breaks off and disappears,^but rises again at the distance of half-a-mile, in bold grey masses, to the height of 120 feet, crowned by forest-trees, above which appears a tower, of the same colour as the rocks. The space, or hollow, caused by the absence of the ridge, or what may very properly be called t'lC back-bone of the mountain, is occupied by a aeep lake, of the purest water, nearly half-a- mile in length, and somewhat less than half that wid.th. Di- rectly before you, to the north, from the cottage or tenant's house, and extending half-a-mile, is a scene of cultivation, unin- closed, and interspersed with trees, in the centre of which stands the house. The ground is gently undulating, bounded en the west by the precipice which overlooks the Farmington valley, and inclining gently to the east, where it is terminated by the fine margin of trees that skirt the lake. After entering the gate, a broad foot-path, leaving the carriage-road, passes off to the left, and is carried along the western brow of the mountain, until passing the house, and reaching the northern extremity of this little domain, it conducts you, almost imperceptibly, round to the foot of the clifl's, on which the tower stands. It then gra- dually passes down to the north extremity of the lake, where it unites with other paths, at a white picturesque building, over- shadowed with trees, standing on the edge of the water, com- manding a view of the whole of it, and open on every side during the warm weather, forming, at that season, a delightful summer-house, and in the winter, being closed, it serves as a shelter for the boat. There is also another path, which, begin- ning at the gate, but leading in a contrary direction, and passing to the right, conducts you up the ridge, to what is now the summit of the south rock, whose top having tidlen off, lies scat- tered in huge fragments, and massy ruins, around and below you. The view from the house towards the east presents i;cO»ing but the lake at the foot of the lawn, bounded on the north and south by lolly cliffs, m^d on the opposite shore by a lower bar- rier of rocks, intermixed with forest-trees, from a'ni'-r.-rol .vhich I i In the Autumn o/1819. 3 R. road is seen to issue, passing to the south along the brink of the water, and although perfectly safe, appears to form, from that quarter, a dangerous entrance to this retired spot. Every thing in this view is calculated to make an impression of the niG. t, entire seclu&ion ; for, beyond the water and the open ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the house, vocks and ibicrits iilone neet the eyo, and appear to separate you from all the rest of tiie Vv orld. But at the same ir.oment that you are con- templating this picture of the deepest solitude, you may, without leaving your place, merely by changing your position, see through one of tile long Gothic window^s of the same room, which reach to a level with the turfj the glowing western valley, one vast sheet of cultivation, lilled with inhabitants. and so near, that with the aid only of a common spy-glass you distinguish the motions of every individual who is abroad m the neighbouring village, even to the frolics of the children, and the active industry of the domestic fowls, seeking their food, or watching over and providing for their young. And from the same window, when the mornmg mist, shrouding the world below and frequently hiding it completely from view, still leaves the summit of the mountain in clear sunshine, you may hear through the dense medium the mingled sounds occasioned by preparations for the rural occupations of the day. Scenery -and Geology of the Middle Region of Connecticut. Natural scenery is intimately connected with taste, moral feeling, utility, and instruction. In no country, perhaps, is it more varied than in North America, and it constantly bears a close relation to the geological structure of the different regions. Even in so limited a country as Connecticut, there are features so widely different as hardly to escape the observation of the most negligent traveller. The greater part of this state being composed of primitive for.uations, exhibits the usual aspect of such countries, and is, with tew exceptions, (and those re- I'lting principally to the alluvion of rivers and of the sea-shore,) hilly or mountainous. In most parts of Ccnrtecticut, the traveller passes a succes- sion of hills and hollows, bounded by large curves, sometimes sinking deep and rising high, so as to create great inequality of surface — ascents and descents frequently arduous ; but rarely, except at fisFures and chasms, exhibiting high naked precipices of rock. But, the hills and mountains are not all similar in their outline, and, in one region in particular, the physiognomy of the country is very pecul^r. At New-Haven commences the region of secondai^y trap or green-stone. It completely intersects th« state, and the itat« gf BS 4 Tour to Quebec, Massachusetts, like a belt, and even passes to the confines of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire. Through the whole extent of this district, as in a great valley, among the ridges the Connecticut river flows, except below Middletown, near which the river passes through a barrier of primitive country, which continues uninterruptedly to the ocean, a distance of twenty-live or thirty miles. But the most striking circumstance to a traveller is, the pe- culiar physiognomy imparted to this region by the rocks. Ge- nerally, throughout the district whose boundaries have been sketched, the green-stone mountains rise in bold ridges— stretch- ing often, league after league, in a continued line — or with oc- casional interruptions — or in parallel lines— or in spurs and branches. One front (and generally it is that which looks wes- terly), is in most instances composed of precipitous cliffs, of naked frowning rock, hoary with time, moss-grown, and tarnished by a superficial decomposition. This front is a perfect barrier, looking like an immense work of art, impassable m most places, composed frequently of ill-formed pdlars* standing side by side, and receding one behind another, at different elevations, like rude stairs. These pillars terminate, at last, in a regular ridge, well defined like the top of a y)arapet, and crowned with trees, which at the elevation of from two or three, to seven or eight hundred feet, form abeautitiil verdant fringe, ofien of evergreens, which is finely contrasted with the rocky bjirrier below. Al- though this is the general form of these hills, some of them are conical, or of irregular shajics ; but the barrier-form is so common, that in many parts of this district the country seems divided by stupendous walls, and the eye ranges along, league after league, without perceiving an avenue, or a place of egress. Most of the ridges are j)arallel, and it is when travelling at their feet, that one is most forcibly struck with their castellated appearance. !n some parts of the ilistrlitit is impracticable lor many miles to find a passage fi)r a road, or lor u stream ; and both, wiien they cross the direction of the ridg(s, are wound through narrow rocky defiles, often singularly pictin'es<[ue and wild, with their lofty inipending clilVs, and with tlnir fallen ruins. Indeed, the inunense masses of iiuns which, both in this district and in the similar districts ol' other cotuUries, are collected at the feet of the groen-slone ridges, fi)rm a very striking object. Often they slope, with a very sharp declivily, half or two thirds of the way up the mountain, and terminate only at the rocky barrier ; the ruins are composed of masses of every size, from that of a pebble, which nuiy be thrown at a bird, to entire cliffs • III Ronio |»1h( p», as nn tlio front ol' jMnimt IIol>okc, iicnr Noitlmmplon, tliejr are regular pillars, like tiioHo ul tiic giAiil's cuiiscway. In the Autumn o/18l9. 5 and pillars, of many tons weight, which, from time to time, fall, with fearful concussion, into the vallies. This kind of rocky avalanche is so common among the jjreen-stone mountains, that It IS often heard, and sometimes, in the stiUaess of night, by those who live in the vicinity. ZEAL FOR CHURCHES. In the valley of Northington we passed a beautiful new meeting-house. It is a handsome specimen of architecture, and is one of three places of public worship recently erected in this little parish, wliich, a short time since, had only one miserable ruinous house, situated in the midst of a forest. I once attended public worship there on a pleasant but warm summer sabbath. The house was almost embowered in ancient forest-trees ; it was smaller than many pr.vate dwelling houses- was much dilapidated by time, which had furrowed the grey unpainted shingles and clapboards with many water-worn chan- nels, and it seemed as il'it would soon fall. It was an interesting remnant of primeval New-England manners. The people, evi- dently agricultm'al, had scarcely departed from the simplicity of our early rural luibits ; the men were not parading in foreign broadcloth, nor the women flaunting in foreign silks and mus- lins ; but they appeared in domestic fabrics, and both men and women were dressed with simplicity. I do not mean that there were no exceptions, but this was the general aspect of the con- gregation, and, from the smallness of the house, although there were pews, it seemed rather a domestic than a public religious meeting. The minister corresponded, admirably, with the ap- pearance of the house and congregation, as liir as antiquity and ])rimeval simplicity woie concerned, but he was highly respect- able for undersandinii', and sustained even in thes-e humble cir- cumstances the dignity of his station, lie was an old man, with hoary locks and a venerable aspect, a hkiii of God of other tifius — a patriarchal teacher — not caring t()r much ba- lanced nicety of phrase, hut giving his Hock wholesome Ibod, in sound doctrnie and plain sj)eech. His ]nay(Ms had that detail of petition — that speciiic application, both to p\iblic and private concerns, and that directness of allusion to the momentous poli- tical events ot the day, and their a])parent Ixnuing upon this people, which was connnon among our ancestors, and especially a'Monu the first ministers, who bioujiht with them the fervor of the times when they emigraleil iVom England. This aged minister is still living, but since the destruction of his ancient house, and the division of his j)eople, he is withotU any particular charge ; still, however, althoiigh oj)pressed with the infirmities of advanced life, he occa>i(Mnily, M'lieiel was told they place oHeudiu}? nienihers, who, bein^ under discipline, are, Cor the time, excluded from the coiuinmiity, and whom tlwy aiyh' l/acks/idtn's ; they desig- nate them hy sayinj;:, " they are out of the gift.'" J am told that Ihey are not offended hy bein^- called Shakers, and do not regard it as an opprobrious ejiithet. lntauce of two miles anil an half, upon the declivity of the moinuain, and near its base, is the 8hnker's village, which, I Ill In the Autumn of 1819. 17 with its green fields and neat houses, is a pleasing object in the outline ot the picture. Nearer still, (as I have already remark- ed,) and in the very bottom of the basin, is the handsome village of New-Lebanon, composed of neat white houses, and a pretty church with a spire; and all around are the grand slopes of mountains which limit the view on every side, and present fields, woods, and rocks, and bold ridges, upon which the clouds often repose. Bristol spring in England is surrounded by the fine scenery of the Avon, and the romantic rock of St. Vincent impends over it, with a good degree of grandeur, but even this scene is very li- mited compared with that ot New-Lebanon; and when at the Bristol-spring, the observer is in a deep channel, by the side of the river, and shut out completely from all prospect. From the top of St. V^incent's rock, and from every part of Clifford, and the other eminences mound Bristol, and indeed from the upper- street of the town itself, there are tiie finest views. The famous springs at Ballston and Saratoga are situated in disagreeable low bottoms, with scarcely any advantages of sce- nery, and with no attractions, except those presented by the me- dicinal powers of the waters, by good cheer, and by genteel company; the first of these advantages is vc>ry great, and those springs are, without doubt, one of the greatest natinal bounties of heaven to this country. The other two may be enjo)ci at New-Lebanon, where we found pleasant com])any, and a house extremely comfortable in every thing except the beds, which were very hard. For those who wish to enjoy fine rural scenery, bold, pictu- resque, ami beautiful, with the best mountain air, and such ad- vantages to health as this copious f()untain presents, nothing can be belter in its kind than iSew-Iiebanon. Its waters must be adntirable for bathing. New-Jicbanon spring is twelve miles from Lenox and seventy from Hartford, nnd is just within the limits of tlie State of N«*w- York, and very near both the slates of Massachusetts and Con- necticut. A stoiie, similar to a mile-stone, denoting the boun- dary-line between the states of Massachusetts and New- York, occurs on the slope of the mountain, as we descend toward the village of the Shakers. In the valley of New-Lebanon there is a family vault, which shuck us on entering the village. It is a neat cemetery, covered by a high motmd; a marble-table lies on the top, and (what constitutes iis Hingularity) it has a fiag-staff, similar to those in forts; we supposed it must be a mausoleum tor some military man, but we were informed that it was the 'ault of a privat* VovAGEs «rtr/ Travels, Vol. VII. D IS Tour to Quebec^ i i t family, of the name of Hand, and that whenever any member of the family dies, a black flag is hoisted on the flag-staff. ALBANY. Albany contains from ten to twelve thousand inhabitants, and is the second city in the State (we might almost say empire,) of New- York. Its latitude is 42 degrees 38 minutes, N.; it is 160 miles from New- York, and 164 from Boston. It rises, for the most part, rapidly from the river, and exhibits a very handsome ap- pearance from the Greenbush side. The greater part of the po- pulation, however, is on the flat ground, immediately contigu- ous to the river, where the Dutch, who founded the town, hrst commenced building, agreeably to their established habits in Holland. Instances are innumerable, where people continue from habit, what was at first begun from necessity, and this seems to have been the fact in the present case. Tlie town extends about two miles north and south, on the river, and, in the widest part, nearly one mile east and west. It is perfectly compact, closely built, and, as far as it extends, has the appearance of a great city. It has numerous streets, lanes, and alleys, and in all of them there is the same closeness of building, and the same city-like appearance. The principal streets, and especially Market, State, and Pearl streets, are spacious, and the houses, in general, are handsome and commodious; many are large, and a few are splendid. State-street is very wide, and rises rapidly from the river, up a considerably steep hill. The capitol stands at the head of it. This li a large and handsome building of stone,* furnished with good rooms for the government and courts of law ; in the deco- rations and furniture of some of these apartments, there is a good degree of elegance, and even some splendor. There is also a State Library, just begun ; it does not yet contain 1000 volumes, but they are well selected, and a fund of 500 dollars per annum is provided for its increase, besides 3000 dollars granted by the legislature to commence the colloctioii. The view from the Balcony of the capitol is rich and magni- ficent : the mountains of Vermont and of the Catskill are the most distant objects, and the banks of the river are very beauti- ful, on account of the fine verdure and cultivation, and of the numerous pretty eminences which bound its meadows. • 1 could not but tvf;u'i Jliut the to^s.-Mtited iriiirhle [mvcmcnt of tin- ves- tibult), othrrwisc very linndsomr, wa" slmmcrully diitird by tobacco-spittle : Mich a lliitijf would not be s»H\red iu l'.un»|io. It is, iKtwever, uiitbrninalely, only ft sftiiiplo of the too pcni'ral treatment of public buildings and places in the United Stales, and constitutes no ;)«>ni/i/ir topic of reproach in this ii|. ilance; but it is |)MrtJculRrly offensive in so fine n hnildine. In ih: Autumn of 1819. i* up a of it. H' ves- The Academy of Albany, situated on the Capitol Hill, is a noble building, of Jersey free-stone. Although it has (as stated to me by Dr. B ) cost 90,000 dollars, only the lower rooms are finished. Schools are, however, maintained in it for nearly 200 children, and it is prosperous, under the able direction of Dr. T. R. Beck, and of several assistant teachers. This Institution was erected at the expence of the city of Albany, and is honourable to its munificence, although a plainer building, which, when completely finished, would have cost much less money, would probably have been equally useful, and might have left them, out of their 90,000 dollars, a handsome fund, in addition to what they now possess. Tliere is a large and convenient brick building for a LancaS' terian school, but I did not go into it. Among the interesting things of Albany is the seat of the late General Schuyler, situated quite in the country, at the south end of the town. It is memorable, principally, from its histo- rical associations. It was the seat of vast hospitality and the resort of the great men of the revolution. Even General Burgoyne, with his principal officers, was lodged and entertained there after his surrender, although he had devastated General Schuyler's beautiful estate at Saratoga, and burned his fine country seat. The house of the late General Schuyler is spacious, and in its appearance venerable; it has, long since, passed away from the family, and is now possessed by a furrier. At the opposite, or northern extremity of Albany, and almost equally in the country, is situated the seat of the patroon, Ge- neral Stephen Van Henssciaer. It is well known, that he pos- sessed a vast patrimonial estate of forty miles square, lying in the vicinity of Albany, which has descended, unbroken, from his ea»ly American ancestors. Such a j)henomenon, in a republi- can country, is very remarkable, and cannot fail, in spite of our early prejudices and the strong bias of national feelings, to excite a degree of admiruiion, if not of veneration. We are still more disposed to indulge these feelings, when we find the hereditary possession of such \\eaUh, associated with distin- guished excellence, in public and private lilc, with the most amiable and unassuming manners, and with a princely, although discriminating liberality. The house (which was built by the father of the present pa- troon.) is a palace. It staiuls on the fiat ground by the river, and looks dt)\vn Market-street, which here ternunates abruptly. The liouse has in tlu' rear nothing but green fields and beautiful nirul scenes. It is (Mubowered in groves ami shrubbery, and remiiuled nie poNMriully of some of the fine villas in Holland, to D2 * ! {! »/ 20 Tour to Quebec^ f' * which, both in situation and appearance, it beuia a strong resemblance. Among the gentry and professional and literary men of Albany, there are individuals of distinguished eminence. But eminent men, of our own time and country, are rather too near for much mi- nuteness of delineation. Were it not for the restraint thus im- posed by delicacy, it would be a task, by no means ungrateful, to draw likenesses from the life, and to exhibit the combined eftect of talent, learning, and social virtues. An American in Europe is free from this embarrassment, and should he there discover a njind of amazing vigour and activity — always glowing, always on the wing, replete with various and extensive knowledge, flowing out in the most rapid, ardent, and impressive eloquence, while sim- plicity and familiarity of manners were associated with a high- minded integrity, and independence, he would fearlessly pro- nounce the possessor of such qualities an original and captivat- ing man. Albany is the great thoroughfare and resort of the vast wes- tern regions of the state : its streets are very bustling ; it is said 2000 waggons sometimes pass up and down State-street in a day ; it nmst hereafter become a great inland city. It stands near the head of a sloop navigation and of tide water : sloops of eighty tons come up to the town, besides the steam- boats of vastly greater tonnage, but of a moderate draught of water. In addition to the public buildings that have been already mentioned, Albany has a city-hall, a jail, an alms-house, a state arsenal, two market-houses, four banks, a museum, eleven houses of public worship, and a public library containing about 4000 volumes.* The private libraiy of Chancellor Kent does honour to him and to learning. It contains between two and three thousand volumes of choice books. The collection on jurisprudence em- braces not only the English, but the civil and French law. It contains Latin, Greek, English, and French Classics — holies let- tres— history — biography — travels, and books in most branches of human learning. Tlie numerous manuscript remarks and annotations, on the blank leaves and margins of the books, evince that they arc not a mere pageant, and at a future day will form some of the most interesting of our literary relics. The situation of Albany is salubrious, and eminently happy, in relation to the surroiuiding country, which is populous and fertile. No one can estinuite the importance of the regions west, which, in their progressive increase, and aided by the stupen- • \\ uiccstd's GuzcUcci. Inthe Autmnn of IS19. tf dous canal, now in progress, must pour a great part of their treasures through this channel. Albany has been memorable in American history. It was the rendezvous, and the point of departure, for most ot those armies, which, whether sent by the mother-country, or, raised by the colonies themselves, for the conquest of the Gallo-American dominions, and of the savages, so often, during the middle periods of the last century, excited, and more than once, disap- pointed the hopes of the empire. It was scarcely less conspi- cuous in the same manner, during the war of the revolution and during the late war with Great Britain. Few places, on this side of the Atlantic, have seen more of martial array, or heard more frequently the dreadful " note of preparation." Still, (except perhaps in some of the early contests, with the Abori- gines) it has never seen an enemy; a hostile army has never encamped before it ; nor have its women and children ever seen " the smoke of an enemy's camp." More than once, however, has a foreign enemy, after fixing his destination for Albany, been either arrested, and turned back in his career, or visited the desired spot in captivity and disgrace. The French invasions from Canada never came nearer than Schenectady.* In 1777, the portentous advances of the British armies from Quebec, and of the British fleets and armies, from New- York, threatening a junction at Albany, and filling the new States with alarm, and the Cabinet of St. James with pre- mature exultation, made a n»ost signal discomfiture. Albany was the seat of the great convention, held in 1754, for the purpose of bringing about a confederation of the Colo- nies, for their mutual defence and general benefit, and it has been signalized, by not a tew other meetings, for momentous public purposes. We passed a part of three days in Albany, and were not with- out strong inducements to protract our stay. The public-houses are excellent, aflbrding every accommodation and comlbrt, with that quiet and retirement, and that prompt civility, so commonly found in English inns, and which, initil within a few years, were so rare in those of America. Polished and enlightened society, and the courtesies of hospitality held out still stronger attractions, but our allotments of time did not permit us to remain any longer, and we hastened to set our faces towards the British dominions. * In lOUO, SdieiioctHdy was Kiiddenly assiuiltcn), jii ilio night, Uy (he FicmkIi uiuI Indians, and ilH niisciablu inhahitanb cttiier Uiaiiiiucrcd, ur dragged, in the doidh uf winter, into captivily. 22 Tour to Quebec^ I! ( * BANKS OF THE HUDSON, ABOVE ALBANY. We determined to go by Whitehall, as we wished to avail ourselves of the rapid and comfortable conveyance to the con- fines of Canada, now established on Lake Champlain. Being unwilling, however, to pass rapidly by, or entirely to avoid, all the interesting objects on the road, we adopted such an arrange- ment as might permit us to take the banks of the Hudson and Lake George in our route. Indeed, from Albany, upon the course proposed, every part of our way was to be over classical ground. History sheds a deeper interest over no portion of the North-American States. He who venerates the virtues and the valour, and commiserates the sufferings of our fathers, and he who views, with gratitude and r*^' 'ence, the deliverances which heaven has wrought for this Ir ,d, will tread with awe on every foot of ground between A ^ny and the northern lakes. We were obliged, on tnis occasion, to deny ourselves a visit to Schenectady, and its rising literary institution, and to the waters of Ballston and Saratoga. Leaving them therefore to the left, we proceeded along the banks of the Hudson, princi- pally on the western shore. This is a charming ride. The road is very good, and abso- lutely without a hill ; the river, often placid and smooth, but sometimes disturbed by a rocky bottom, is almost constantly in sight, and flows through beautiful meadows, which are com- monly bounded, at small distances from the Hudson, by verdant hills of moderate height and gentle declivity. The strata of rocks are, almost invariably, the transition slate. They present scarcely any variety. The direction of the strata is so nearly that of the river, that they form but an inconsiderable angle with it ; they often protrude their edges into view, because they have a very high inclination to the iiorizon, apparently about forty-five deg.,* or, perhaps in some instances, a few degrees less. The rock is easily broken up, and reduced to small Frag- ments ; and therefore forms an excellent material for the roads. The banks of the river fiequently present a natural barrier, formed by the same kind of rock. Nearly six miles from Albany, we crossed the river into Troy. SINGULAR HORSE FERRY-BOAT. The ferry-boat is of most singular construction. A platform covers a wide flat boat. Unilerneath the platform, there is a large horizontal solid v/heel, which extends to the sides of the boat; and there the platform, or deck, is cut thro'-jn, and re- * 1 laid no opporluiiHy <(• judj^o, oxot l>y tlic cjr, as wc rude K\ot\g. .1 r. ' I .in -I 'liHl avail In the Autumn oflS\9. S3 moved, so as to afford sufficient room for two horses to stand on the flat surface of the wheel, one horse on each side, and parallel to the gunwale of the boat. The horses are harnessed in the usual manner for teams — the whifile-trees being attached to stout iron-bars, fixed horizontally, at a proper height, into posts, which are a part of the fixed portion of the boat. The horses look in opposite directions, one to the bow and the other to the stern ; their feet take hold of channels, or grooves, cut in the wheels, in the direction of radii ; they press forward, and, al- though they advance not, any more than a jquirrel in a revolv- ing-cage, or than a spit-dog at his work, their feet cause the horizontal wheel to revolve, in a direction opposite to that of their own apparent motion ; this, by a connection of cogs, moves two verticle wheels, one on each wing of the boat, and these, being constructed like the paddle-wheels of steam-boats, pro- duce the same effect, and propel the boat forward. The horses are covered by a roof, furnished with curtains, to protect them in bad weather ; and do not appear to labour harder than com- mon draft-horses with a heavy load. Tlie inventor of this boat is Mr. Langdon, of Whitehall, and it claims the important advantages of simplicity, cheapness, and effect. At first view, the labour appears like a hardship upon the horses, but probably this is an illusion, as it seems very immaterial to their comfort, whether they advance with their load, or cause the basis, on which they labour, to recede. TROY, LANSINGBURGII, AND WATERFORD. Troy, six miles north of Albany, is a beautiful city, hand- somely built, and regularly laid out ; its appearance is very neat ; it stands principally on the flat ground, by the Hudson ; con- tains 5000 inhabitants, a court-house, jail, market-house, and two banks, a public library, a Lancasterian school, and five places of public worship. It has an intelligent and polished population, and a large share of wealth. A number ot its gen- tlemen have discovered their attachment to science, by the institution of a Lyceum of Natural History, which, fostered by the activity, zeal, and intelligence of its members, and of its lec- turer, Mr. Eaton, promises to be a public benefit, and to elevate the character of the place. Near it, on the opposite side of the river, are extensive and beautiful barracks, belonging to the United States, with a large park of artillery. Below the town, are fine mill-seats, on which are already established several important nuinufactures, for which kind of employments, Troy appears very favourably situ- ated. Small sloops come up to this town, which, for size, and importance, is the third or fourth in the state. 24 Tour to Quebec, h . ») We had to regret that the arrangements of our journey did not permit us to pass as much time in Troy, as, under other circumstances, would have been both useful and agreeable. Lansingburgh, through which we passed, three miles north of Troy, is interior to it in the number and quality of its build- ings. Its population is not far from 2000. It is a large and handsome settlement, situated, principally, on one street, and has an academy, a bank, and four* places of public worship. Sloops come up to this place, and it enjoys a considerable trade. It was formerly more flourishing than at present. Troy has, for a good many years, gained the pre-eminence, and seems likely to retain it. Waterford is a pretty village, of 1000 inhabitants, and stands on the western bank of the Hudson, at its confluence with the Mohawk, where several islands, producing the appearance of several mouths, give diversity to a very beautiful scene. It is ten miles north of Albany. From the Lansingburgh side, we crossed into it, over a commodious biidge. Hie name of this place was formerly Half-Moon Point. It is memorable, as hav- ing been the most southern point to which the American army, under General Schuyler, retreated, before the then victorious General Burgoyne. In the contiguous islands, in the mouth of the Mohawk, they took their stand, and were preparing to form a camp so strong, that their enemy would not be able to force it. This was in August, 1777. On the 19th of that month. General Schuyler was superseded in command by General Gates. Colonel Morgan's regiment of riflemen, dis- patched from the main army by General Washington, arrived on the 23d ; and on the 8th of September, the army again turned northward, and marched to Stillwater, to face General Bur- goyne. From this place, therefore, we are to pass over the most interesting scenes of that campaign. We had so arranged our journey as to lodge at Stillwater, and we were even desirous to stay in the very house, which in the plans, accompanying General Burgoyne's " State of the Expedi- tion from Canada," is called " Swords' house." This small house, which is still in tolerable repair, and is now kept as a tavern, was, for some time, the British head-quarters and hospital, and was rendered very memorable by the events which happened in and near it. We arrived, at night-fall, in the midst of a hard rain ; obtained the refreshments we needed, and made ourselves comfortable for the night. Willing to arrest the impressions of the moment, I wrote down such thoughts as the scene suggested. * \Vortcstci*s Gazetteer. In the Autumn o/1819. 85 " swords' HouiE AT STILLWATER — TcH o'clock at night. We are now on memorable ground. Here much precious blood was shed, and now, in the silence and solitude of a very dark and rainy night — the family asleep, and nothing heard but the rain and the Hudson, gently n\uinmring along, I ar "riting in the very house, and my table stands on the very spot in the room where General Frazer breathed his last, on the 8th of Oc- tober, 1777. He was mortally wounded in the last of the two desperate battles fought on the neighbouring heights, and, in the midst or the conflict, was brought to this house by the soldiers. Be- fore me lies one of the bullets shot on that occasion ; they are often found in ploughing the battle-field. Blood is asserted, by the people of the house, to have been visible here, on the floor, till a very recent period. General Frazer was higli in command in the British army, and was almost idolized by them ; they had the utmost confi- dence in his skill and valour, and that the Americans enter- tained a similar opinion of him, is sulficiently evinced by the following anecdote, related to me at Ballston Springs, in 1797, by the Hon. Richard Brent, then a member of Congress, from Virginia,* who derived the fact from General Morgan's own mouth. In the battle of October the 7th, the last pitched battle that was fought between the two armies. General Frazer, mounted on an iron-grey horse, was very conspi<;uous. He was all acti- vity, courage, and vigilance, riding from one part of his division to another, and animating the troops by his example. Where- ever he was present, every thing prospered, and, when confusion appeared in any part of the line, order and energy '*ere restored by his arrival. Colonel Morgan,+ with his Virginia riflemen, was imme- diately opposed to Frazer's division of the army. It had been concerted, before the commencement of the battle, that while the New-Hampshire and the New- York troops attacked the British left, Colonel Morgan, with his regi- ment of Virginia riflemen, should make a circuit so as to come upon the British right, and attack them there. In this attempt he was favoured by a woody hill, to the foot of which the British right extended. When the attack commenced on the British left, " true to his purpose, Morgan, at this critical moment, * Since deceased, t Afterwards General Morgan— tlie hero of the battle of the Cowpcns, and (Ustinguislicd, through the whole war, by a scries of the most important services. Voyages «wd Travels, Vol. VII. E «' 26 \\ ' P Tour to Quebec^ poured down, like a torrent from the lull, and attacked the right of the enemy in" ibont and flank."* The right wing soon made a movement to support the left, which was asstiiled with iricr«ascd violence, and whde executing this movement. General Frazcr received his mortal wound. In the midst of this sanguinary battle, Colonel Morgan took a few of his best riflemen aside ; men in whose fldelity, and fatal precision of aim, he could repose the most perfect confi- dence, and said to them: " that gallant ofticer is General Friizor; I admire and respect him, but it is necessary that he should die — taivn know- ledge are probably related witli correctness — is evidently a made vp Avork, and what is etnious ent)Ugh, many pajccs of it, and by far the most imporlant parts, are taken, almost verbatim, from General Unr-^oyne's '* Slali; of the I'^xpeditiou frrom Canada" — aiiiiouj;h that work was not published till tinte years atler Anbury's letteis are dated. E2 S8 Tour to QuebeCt i1 ll ' and accomplished gentleman, * but very inconveniently, I am shot through both legs ; will you, Sir, have the goodness to have me conveyed to your camp ?' I directed my sevvunt to alight, and we lifted Ackland into his (the servant's) seat, and ordered him to be conducted to head-quarters." Two other ladies, who were in the same house with Madam Reidesel, received news, the one, that her husband was wounded, and the other, that herd was slain; and the Baroness herself ex- Sected every moment to hear similar tidings ; for the Baron's uties, as commander-in-chief of the German troops, required him to be frequently exposed to the most imminent perils. The Baroness Reidesel gives in her narrative the following recital, respecting General Frazer's death : — " Severe trials awaited us, and, on the 7 th of October, our misfortunes began; I was at breakfast with my husband, and heard that something was intended. On the same day, I expected the Generals Burgoyne, Philips, and Frazer, to dine with us. I saw a great the troops ; my husband told me, it was a movement among mere reconnoissance, which gave me no concern, as it often hap- pened. I walked out of the house, and met several Indians, m their war-dresses, with guns in their hands. When I asked them where they were going, they cried out War ! War ! (mean- ing that they were going to battle.) — This filled me with appre- hensions, and I had scarcely got home, before I heard reports of cannon and musketry, which grew louder by degrees, till at last the noise became excessive. About four o'clock in the after- noon, instead of the guests whom I expected, General Frazer was brought on a litter, mortally wounded. The table, which was already set, was instantly removed, and a bed placed in its stead, for the wounded general. I sat trembling in a corner ; the noise grew louder, ond the alarm increased : the thought that my husband might, perhaps, be brought in, wounded in the same manner, was terrible to me, and distressed me exceedingly. " General Frazer said to the surgeon, ' tell me if the wound is mortal, do not flatter me.' The ball had passed through his body, and, unhappily for the general, he had eaten a very hearty breakfast, by which the stomach was distended, and the ball, as the surtreon said, had passed through it. I heard him often exclami, with a sigh, ' O, fatal ambition ! Poor General Burgoyne! O, my poor wife!' He was asked if he had any request to make, to which he replied, that * if General Burgoyne would permit it, he should like to be buried at six o'clock in the evening, on the top of a mountain, in a redoubt which had been built there.' Towards evening, I saw my husband coming; then I forgot all my sorrows, and thanked God that he was spared to me." m to to d im In the Autumn o/1819. 29 The German baroness spent much of the night in comforting Lady Harriet Ackland, and in taking care of her children, whom she had put to bed. Of herself she says— "I could not go to sleep, ' " as I had General in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children would Frazer and all the other wounded gen- tlemen awake, and by their crying disturb the dying man in his last moments, who often addressed me and apologised ^for the trou- ble he gave me.'' About three o'clock in the morning, I was told he could not hold out much longer ; I had desired to be in- formed (if the near approach of this sad crisis, and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, and went with them into the room below. About eight o'clock in the morning he died. After he was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came again into the room, and we had this sorrow- ful sight before us the whole day ; and, to add to the melan- choly scene, almost every momentsome officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded." What a situation for delicate females — a small house, filled with bleeding and expiring men — the battle roaring and raging all around — little children to be soothed and protected, and fe- male domestics, in despair, to be comforted — cordials and aids, such as were attainable, to be administered to the wounded and dying — ruin impending over the army, and they knew not what insults, worse than death, might await themselves from those as well as whom they had been taught to consider as base cowardly. Both these illustrious females learned, not long after, a dif- ferent lesson. I have already remarked, that Major Ackland was wounded and taken prisoner. His lady, with heroic cou- rage, and exemplary conjugal tenderness, passed down the river to our army, with a letter from General Burgoyne to General Gates, and although somewhat detained on the river, because it was night when she arrived, and the centhv;! could not permit her to land till he had received orders iiom his superior, she was, as soon as her errand was made known, received by the Americans with the utmost respect, kindness, and delicacy. Her husband, many years aftev the war, even lost his life in a duel, which he fought with an t>fficer who called the Americans cowards. Ackland espoused their cause, and vindicated it in this unhappy manner. General Burgoyne, in his " State of the Expedition from Ca- nada," has mentioned, with nnith respect and feeling, the case of Lady Harriet Ackland. It seems she came with her husband to Canada, early in the yeslr 1776. and accompanied him through that campaign, in all tiic varieties of travelling and of season, "to attend, in a poor hut, at Chambly, upon his sick bed." At the opening of the campaign of 1777, ihe, by the positive injunctions lil'f 50 Tour to Quebec, of her husband, renuiiiied at Ticonderoga, till, hearing of his being wounded at Castleton, sbe went over to him, and, after his recovery, persisted in following his fortunes, with no other vehicle than a little two-wheeled tumbril, cunstructed in die camp on the Hudson. She, with the major, was, on apartieidar occasion, near perishing in the flames, in consequence of their hut taking fire in the night. As the grenadiers, whom Major Ackland commanded, were attached to the advanced corps, this lady was exposed to all their fatigues, and to many of their perils, and was at last obliged, during the battle of the 7 th of October, to take refuge " among the wounded and dying." With respect to her proposal to go over to the American camp, to take care of her husband, General Burgoyne remarks,* " Though I was ready to believe, (for I had experienced,) that patience and fortitude, in a supreme degree, were to be found as well as every other virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal. After so long an agitation of the spirits, exhauf'ted, not only for want of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rains for twelve hours together, that a woman should be capable of delivering herself to the enemy, probably in the nlglit, and uncertain of what hands she might first fall into, appeared an eftbrt above human Uiilure. The assistance I v. as enabled to give was small indeed ; I had not even a cup of v/itie to oHer her; but I was told, she had found from some kind and fbniniaie hand a little rum and dirty water. All I could furnish to hei was an open boat, and a lev/ lines, written upon dir.y and wet paper, to General (jrates,recom- meiiding her to his p.oiection." " It is due to justice, at the close of this adventure^ to say, that she was received and ac- commodated by General Gates wl:h all the humanity and respect that her rank, her i/ierits, and her fortunes deserved." 1 omit to c[\\iAc General I3urgoyne's statement, that lady Harriet Ackland was detained through the night in the open boat, because, we are now informed, on the authority of Generals Wilkinsont and Dearborn, that this v/as a total misrcj)resentaiion, nltliough, probably, not originating with (jleneral Uuigoyne. It seems General Dearborn (then u major,) ctnunumded at the post where the boat was hailed. As soon as the character of the uuly was known, she was immediately provided with a comfortable apartment, and refreshments, and fue, and, in the niorning, was l()rwarded on her way to the camp. " I^et sucli," adds (lieneral llingoyne, "as are aiVected by these circunistiinces of alarm, haraship, and danger, recollect lliat the subject of them was a ♦ Slate ordic I'lNpriliiiuu, c.c. ;«. l'^8. In the Autumn o/1819. 31 woman, of the most tentler and tlelicate frame ; of the gentlest manners ; habituated to all the soft elegancies, and refined en- joyincni.-i, that attend high birth and fortune ; and far advanced in a sta'.e in which the tender cares, always due to the sex, become indispensably necessary. Her mind alone was formed for such trials." Lady Reidesel, immediately on the surrender of the army, received on the spot, from General Schuyler, (and that spot was his own devastated estate,) the most kind and soothing atten- tions, wiiich she and her children so eminently needed, and af- terwards, in the family of this magnanimous and generous man, she experienced from Mrs. Schuyler and her daughters ^11 the attentions and sympathies of friendship. After the surrender, and the olHcers had gone over to Generoi Gates' army, General Reidesel sent a message to his lady, to come to him with her children. She says in her narrative, " I seated p.iyself once more in my dear calash, and then rode through the American camp. As I passed on, I observed, (and this was a great consolation to me.) that no one eyed me with looks of resentment, but they all greeted us, and even shewed com- passion in their countenances, at the sight of a woman with small childreti. 1 was, I confess, airaid to ^o over to the enemy, as it was quite a new situation to me. When I drew near the tents, a handsome man a})proached and met me, took my children from the calash, and hniijfcd and hissed them, zchich affected me almost to tears. — ' You tremble,' said lie, addressing himselt' to me, ' be not afraid,' — ' No,' I answered, ' you seem so kind ixwiX tender to my children, it inspires me with courage.' He now led me to tlie tent of Gcmeral Gates. All the generals remained to dine \\\\\\ (icneral (Jates. " The same gentleman who received me so kindly, now came antl said to me, ' Von will be very nnich embarrassed to eat with all these gentlemen ; come with your children to my tent, where I willj)repare for you a fruijfal dinner, and give it with a free will.' I said, ' you arc certanily a husband and a liuher, you have shewn me so nnich kindness.' " I now found that he was General Schuyler. He treated me with excellent smoked tongue, beef-steaks, potatoes, and good bread ami butter ! Never could 1 have wished to eat a better dinner: I was content; I saw all around me were so like- wise; aiul what was better than all, my husband was out of danger! When we had dined, he told me his residence was at Albany, and that General IJurgoyne intendeil to honoiu" him aa his guest, and inv -l myself and children to do so likewise. I asked my husband how I should act; he tolil me to accept the invitation." " Some tlays after this, wc arrived at Albany, m Tour to Quebec, where we sr often wished ourselves ; but we did not enter it, as we expected we should, victors ! We were received by the good General Schuyler, his wile, and daughters, not as enemies but kind friends ; and they treated us with the most marked atten- tion and politeness, as they did General Burgoyne, who had caused General Schuyler's beautifully finished house to be burnt ; in fact, they behaved like persons of exalted minds, who determined to bury all recollection of t/ieir ozcn injuries in the contemplation of owr misfortunes. General Burgoyne was struck with General Schuyler's generosity, and said to him, ' You shew me great kindness, although I have done you nuich injury.' * That was the fate of war,^ replied the brave man, ' let us say no more about it.' " Thus, not only General Burgoyne, b\it a number of the most distinguished otlicers of the army, including Baron Reidesel and Major Ackland, and their ladies, were actually lodged for weeks, and most hospitably entertained, in the house of the man whose elegant villa at Saratoga they had wantonly* burnt, and whose fine estate they had spoiled. ^ T^ yk TW ^ ^ tw V Retiring at a "Uc hour to my bed, it will be easily perceived that the tender and heroic ideas, associated with this memorable house, would strongly possess my mind. The night was mantled in black clouds, and impenetrable darkness; the rain increasing, descended in torrents upon the roof of this humble mansion ; the water, urged froin the heights, poured with loud and in- cessant rumbling, through a neighbouring aqueduct ; and the Hudson, as if conscious that blood had once stained its waters and its banks, rolled along with sullen murmurs; — the distin- guished persons who, tbrty-two years since, occupied this tenement — the agonized females— the terrified imploring chil- dren — and the gallant chiefs, in all the grandeur of heroic suf- fering and dt.'ath, were vividly present to my mind — all the realities of the night, and the sublime and tender images of the past, conspired to give my faculties too nuich activity for sleep, and I will not deny that the dawning light was grateful to my eyes. THE BATTLE-GROUND. The rain having ceased, I was on horseback at early dawn, with a veteran guide to conduct me to the battle-ground. Al- though he was seventy-five years old, he did not detain me a moment ; in consequence of an appointment the evening before, he was waiting my arrival at his nouse, a mile below our inn, * It ViM iiKsortctl, in justificatinn, tliiit (liu liuiisc Mas Ixirnt to prevent its l>ein}( ii cover lor the Aniericiuis, nnil that the osttito wsis ruvagcd in tombing. In Ihe Julunni of IS19. 53 and, declining any aid, he mounted a tall horse from the ground. His nuuic M'us Ezra Buel,* ;i niitive of Lebanon, in Connecticut, which place he left in his youth, and was settled here at the time of General Burgoyne's invasion. He acted through the whole time as a guide to the American army, and was one of three who were constantly employed in that service. His duty led him to be always turemost, and in the post of danger ; and he was, therelbre, admirably qualihed tor my purpose. The two great battles, which decided the fate of Burgoyrte's army, were Ibught, the Hrst on the 19th of September, and the last, on the 7th oi' October, on Bemus' heights, and very nearly on the same ground, which is about two miles west of the river. Tiie river is, in this region, bordered for many miles by a con- tinued meadow, of no great breadth ; upon this meadow there was then, as there is now, a good road close to the river, and parallel to it. Upon this road marched the heavy-artillery and baggage, constituting the left wing of the British army, while the advanced corps of the light troops, forming the right wing, kept on the heights which boiuid the meadows. riie Aujericau army was south and we^t of the British, its right wing on the river, and its left resting on the heights. Wc passed over a part of their camp a little below Stillwater. A great part of the battle-ground was occupied by lofty f )rest- trees, principally pine, with here and there a few cleared fields, of which the most conspicuous in these sanguinary scenes was called Freeman's farm, and is so called in Creneral Burgoyne's plans. Such is nearly the present situation of these heights, only there is more cleared hind ; the gigantic trees have been principally felled, but a considerable number remain as witnesses to posterity ; they hfill shew the wounds made in their trunks and branches, by tlie missiles of contending armies; their roots still penetrate the soil that was made fruitful by the blood of the brave, and their sombre foliage still uuninurs with the breeze, which once sighed as it bore the departing spirits along. My veteran guide, warmed by my curiosity, and recalling the feelings of his prime, leil me, with amazing rapidity and proujpti- tude, over fences and ditches — tlnougii water and mire — through ravines and l« inoiifi, vol. i. p. '240. In the Auliimn of 1819. 35 ami in tin.: manner did the battle tlnctuate, like waves of a stormy sea, with alteriuUe advantages for four hours, without one momep.t's intermission. The Hritish artillery fell into our {)ossession at every charge, Init we could neither turn the pieces upon the enemy nor bring them oil"; the wood prevented the last, and the want of a match the lirst, as the lintstock was invari- a[)ly carried oif, and the rapidity of the transitions did not allow MS time to provide one; the slaughter of this brigade of artille- rists was lemarkable, the ca])tain (Jones) and thirty-six men being killed or wounded out of Ibrty-eight. It was truly a gal- lant conflict, in which death, by familiarity, lost his terrors, and certainly a drawn battle, as night alone terminated it : the Bri- tish army keeping its groinul in rear of the field of action, and our corps, when they could no longer distinguish objects, retir- ing to their own camp. Yet General Burgoyne claimed a " vic- tory." It had, however, with respect to him, all the consequences of a defeat: his loss was between five and six hundred, while ours was but little more than half that number ; his loss was irreparable, ours easily repaired, and in proportion to oiu' entire armv, as well as absolutely, it was much less than his. 'Ihe stress of the action, as regards the British, lay princi- pally on the twentieth, twenty-first, and sixty-second regiments; the latter, which was 500 strong when it left Canada, was re- duced to less than sixty men, and to four or five officers.* General Burgoyne states, that there was scarcely ever an in- terval of a minute in the smoke, when some British officer was not shot by the American rillemen posted in the trees, in the rear and on the flank of their own line. A shot which was meant for (jeneral Burgoyne, severely wounded Captain Green, an aid of (jieneral Philips: the mistake was owing to the Captain's having a rich laced finniture to his saddle, which caused the marksman to mistake him for the general. Such was the ardour of the Americans, that, as General Wil- kinson states, the womuled nu>n, after having their woinids tlressed, in many instances returned again iiito the battle. The battle of the 7th of October was fought on the same groimd, but it was not so stationary ; it commenced farther to the right, and extr nded, in its various periods, over more sur- face, eventually occujiying not only Freeman's farm, but it was urged by the Anu'ricans to the very camp of the enemy, which, towards night, was most impetuously stormed, and in part carried. The interval between the 19th of September and the 7th Gorddii. w S6 Tour to Que /tec, of October, was one of great anxiety to both armies; " ■*not a niglu {)asised, (acUls (ieneral Burgoyno,) without (iring, and sometimes coitcertcd attacks upon our pickets ; no foragiug- party could be made without great detachmeuts to cover it; it was the pUin of the enemy to harrass tl.e army l)y constant alarms, and their superiority of numbers enabled them to attempt it, witliout fatigue to tliemselves. By being liabituated to iire, our soldiers became indillerent to il, and were capable of eating or sleeping when it was very near them ; but I cIo not believe that either ollicer or soldier ever slept during that interval, without his clothes, or that any general ofHcer or 'otninander of a regi- ment passed a single night without being upon his legs, occa- sionally, at dilliLnent hours, and constantly an hour betbre day- hght." The battle of the 7th was brought on by a movement of General Burgoyne, who caused 1500 men, wnth ten pieces of artillery, to march towards the left of the American army, for the purpose of discovering whether it was possible to force a j)assage : or, in case a retreat of the royal army should become indis[)e.isable, to dislodge the Americans from their entrench- ments, and also to cover a forage, which had now become pres- singly necessary. It was about the middle of the afternoon that the British weie observed advancing, and the Americans, with small arms, lost no tiirie in attacking the British grenadiers and artillery, although under a tremendous hre from the latter; the battle soon exteiuhtl aloDg the whole line : Colonel Morgan, at the same moment, attacked, with his ritiemen, on the right- wing: (.'oloMCi Acklaod, the commander of the grenadiers, fell, wounded ; the grenadiers were defeated, and most of the artil- lery taken, after great slaughtei'. After a most sa\igtsinarv contest of less tha:i one hour, the discomlitnre and ret. eat ol the British became general, and they had seal ci'ly regained their camp, before the lines were stormed with the greatest fmy, and part of Lord Belcarris' camp was for a short time in our possession. I saw the spot, and also that where the (lermans, under Co- lonel Bicymen, forming the right reserve of the army, were stormed in their encampment, by (leneral Learned and Colonel Jhooks, now (Jlovernor Brooks, of Mas-inchusetts. General Arnold was wounded on this occasion; Colonel Breymen was killed; and the (Jermans were either captured, slain, or forced to retreat in the most j)recipitHte manner, leaving the British encampment on the right eiuirely unprotected, and liable to be assailed the next morning. All the British orticers bear testi- * Siniv of t!ir M\|)rr]itinii. In llic Autumn of IS 19. J7 hs. n\ony to tho valour anil obstinacy of the attacks of the Ameri- cans. The liict was, the British were sorely defeated, routed, and vigorously pursued to their lines, which it seems probable woidd have been entirely carried by assault, had not darkness, as in the battle of the 19th, put an end to the sanguinary contest. It is obvious, troni (Jleneral Burgoyne's own account, and from the testimony of his officers, that this was a severe de- feat ; and such an one as has rarely been experienced by a Bri- tish army ; this army was reduced by it to the greatest distress, and notliiim" but niulit saved them from destruction. 1 was on the ground where the grenadier-, and where the ar- tillery were stationed. " Here, upon this hill," (said my hoary guide.) " on the very spot where we now stand, the dead men lay thicker than you ever saw sheaves on a fruitftil harvest- Held." — " Were they British or Americans?" — " Both," he re- plied, " but principally British." I suppose that it is of this ground that General Wilkinson remarks, it presented a scene of complicated horror and exultation. In the square space of twelve or fifteen yards lay eigliteen grenadiers, in the agonies of death ; and three officers propped up against stumps of trees, two of them mortally wounded, bleeding, and almost speechless. My guide, proceeding with his narrtive, said, " there stood a British tield-piece, which had been twice taken, and re-taken, and finally renuiined in our possession : I was on the ground, and said to an yVmerican colonel, who came up at the moment, ' Colonel, we have taken this piece, and now we want you to siccar it hue to Anurica ;^ so the colonel swore it true, and we turned it aroimd, and fired upon the British, with their own cannon, and with their own annniniition, still remaining unconsuHied in their boxes." I presume Cieneral Wilkinson alludes to the same anecdote, when he says, " I found the courageous C\)lonel Cilley a-straddle on a brass twelve-pounder, and exulting in tlie capttire." I was solicitous to see the exact s];ot where General Frazer received his mortal wound. My old guide knew it perfectly well, and pointed it out to me. It is in a meadow, just on the right of the road, after passing a blacksmith's shop, and going south a ft;w rods. The blacksmith's shop is on a road which runs parallel to the Hudson — it stands elevated, and overlooks Free- man's fiu'm. The niixht of Octt)ber the seventh was a most critical one for the royal army; in the course of it they abandoned their camp, r.»..,M,red their whole position, and retreated to their works upon the heights, contiguous to the river, and immediately behind the hospital. I saw various places where the dead were interretl : a rivulet, .11. fl I > if < r" L Tour lo Quebec^ or crcok, p;ir-,^,es thvougii tho baltle-ground, and «till washes out li'om its bank-i the bones ol" the sluin. This rivulet is often uiciuloncd in the accounts oi* these battles, and the deep ravine through which it p i-pUal, and the rest being exposed to innuiucnt dan'^er, tlie small stock of provisions remaining was hmded under a heavy lire, and iiauied up the lieights. On these heights, close to the meadows bordering on the river, they Ibrmed a fonitied camp, and strengthened it by artillery. Most of the ar- tillery, however, Wiis on the plain, (ieucral Gates' army soon fol- loweil that of Bnrgoyne, and stretched along south of theFishkill, and parallel to it ; the corps of Colonel M(^rgan lay west and north of the fhitish army, and Ocnoral Fellows, v/ith 'JOOO men, was on the east of the Hudson, ready to dispute the pa?sage. Vo\'X Edward was soon after occupied by the Americans — a fortified camp was formed on the high grouiul, between the Hudson and J^ake George, and parties were stationed uj) and down the river; thus the desperate resolution which had been taken in General Burgoyne's camp, of abandoning their artillery and baggage, and (with no more provision than they could c;nry on their backs,) forcing their way by a rapid night march, and in this manner gaining one of the lakes, was rendered abortive. Every part of the camp of the royal army was exposed, not only to cannon-balls, but to rilie-shot ; not a single place of safety could be found, not a corner where a council could be hr hi, a dinner taken in peace, or where the sick and tliC wounded, the females and the children, co\dd find an asylum. Even the access to the river was rendered very hazardous by the numerous rille-shot ; and the army was snon distressed for want of water. General Reidesel and his lady wnd children were often obliged to drink wii\e instead of wato. , r.nd < liry had uo way to procure the latter, except that a soldier's vvlfo vtiUmed to the river for them, and the Americans, out of rcS»Kot to her sex, dii.1 not (u'e at her. To protect his family fro v. ^iiut. General lleidesel, i^oon after their arrival at Saratoi^a, diie.ted them to take shelter in a house not far ofi". They had scarcely reached it, before a terrible can° nonade \vas directed against that very liouse, upon the mistakei? idea, that all the generals were assembled in it. " Alas," adds the Baroness, " it C(mt;ii>ird none but v/ounded and women; we were at last obli^t-'d to reeort to the cellar for refu'/e, and in one corner of this I remained th.e whol? day, my children sleep- ing on the earth, with tlicir heads in my lap, and, in the same situation, f ]iassed a sleeples;^ night. Eleven cannon-balls ])assed through the house, and we could distinctly hear them roll away. One poor soldier, who was lying on a table, for the pvu'pose of having his leg amjaitated, was struck by a shot which carried away his otluM-, lii> toinradi-s had lelt him, and when we VoyA(. Es f//<(/ Thavi,i,s, Vol. VU G 42 l^our to Quebec, i: II went to his assislauco, wo iounil liiin in a conier of the looni into which he had cropt, more deatl tluin alive, scarcely breath- ing. My rellectioiis on the danger to which my hnsband was exposed now a<^onized me exceedingly, and the thoughts of my children, and the necessity of striiggling for their preservation, alone sustained me." A horse of General Reidesel was in con- stant readiness for his lady to mount, in case of a sudden retreat, and three wounded English officers, who lodged in the same house, had made her a solemn promise, that they would, each of them, take one of her children upon a horse, and fly with them when such a measure should become necessary. She was in a state of wretchedness on account of her husband, who was in constant danger, exposed all day to the shot, and never entering his tent to sleep, but, notwithstanding the great cold, lying down whole niglus by the v/atch-fires. In this horrid situation they remained six days, till the cessation of hostilities, which ended in a convention for the surrender of the army ; the treaty was signed on the sixteenth, and the army surrendered the next day.* t)n the ])resent occasion I did not visit the British fortified camp. When I was here, in 1797, I examined it particularly. 1 1 was then in perfect prcservavion, (I speak of the encampment of the Brilis/i troops upon the hill, near the Fishkill,) the para- pet was high, and covered with grass and shrubs, and the plat- forms of eaith to support the iield-pieces were still in good con- diiion. No devastation, of any consequence, had been committed, except by tlie credulous, who had made numerous excavations in the breast-work, and various parts of the encampments, for the purpose of discovering the money, which the officers were supposed to have buried, and abandoned. It is scarcely neces- sary to add, that they never found any money, for piivate pro- perty was made sacred by the convention, and even the public military chest was not disturbed : the British retained every shilling that it contained. Under such circumstances, to have burietl their money would have been almost as great a lolly as the subHe(iuont search for it. This infatuation has not, however, gone by even to this hour, and still, every year, new pits are ex- cavatecl by tlie insatiable money-diggers.f THE FIELD OF SURIIENDER. Wi; arrived at this interesting spot in a very fine morning ; the sun shone with great pplondour upon the flowing Hudson, and * Ihtroiirss Ucitlesil's Nurraliu-, iti Wilkinson's IVIeiiioirs. i This ;i|nu ais (u Ik: ii very rt»ininoii pdpiilfir (Itliisioii ; in many places, oa llit^ lliulstiii, iuul aljoiil fl:i) lakes, wlioro ainiios liail lain, or moved, wo ioiuul money- pits (hi;;-; anil, in one pl:icc, they toUl ns, that a man bon» '»t'r ii;ro«inil for tlio Iiidtlcn Iroasua-. in 1- »y )n. In the Autumn of 1819. 43 upon the beautiful heiglits, and the luxuriant mwidows now smiling in rich verdure, and exhibiting images of tranciuillity and loveliness, very opposite to the horrors of war, which were once witnessed liere. The Fislikill, swollen by abundant rains, (as it Was on the morning of October 10th, J 777, when General Burgoyne passed it with his artillery,) now poured a turbid torrent along its nar- low channel, and roaring down the declivity of the" hills, has- tened to mingle its waters with those of the Hudson.. It was upon the banks of the Fishkill that the British army surrendered. We passed the ground where stood the tents of (jreneral Gates, and where he received (General Bvu'goyne and the j)rincipal otlicers of his army, (xeneral Wilkinson s account of this interview is interesting : " Early in the morning of the 17th I visited General Burgoyne in his camp, and accompanied him to the ground where his army was to lay down their arms, from whence we rode to the bank of the Hudson's river, which he surveyed with attention, and ahked me whether it was not fordable. ' Certainly, Sir ; but do you observe the people on the opposite shore?' — ' Yes, (replied he,) I have seen them too long.' He then proposed to be introduced to General Gates, and we crossed the Fishkill, and proceeded to head-cpiarters, General Burgoyne in front, with his Adjutant-general Kingston, and his aids-de-camp Captain Lord Petersham and Lieutenant Wilford behind him ; then followed Major-general Phillips, the Baron Reidesel, and the other general-oilicers and their suites, according to rank. General (rates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at tlie head of his camp, Burgoyne in a rich ix)yal unilbrm, and Gates in a plain blue frock: when they had approached nearly within swords' length, they reined up and halted; I then named the gentlcn^.en, and General Burgoyne, raising his hat most gracefully, said ' The fortune of war. Ge- neral Gates, has made me your prisoner ;' to which the conque- ror, returning a courtly salute, promj)tly replied, ' i shall always be ready to bear testimony, that it has not been through any fault of your excellency.' Major-general PhilUps then advanced, and he and General (jrates saluted, and shook hands with the fami- liarity of old acquaintances. The Baron Reidesel and the other olHcers were introduced in their turn." We passed the ruins of General Schuyler's house, which are still conspicuous, and hastened to the field where the British troops grounded their arms. Although, in 1797, I paced it over with juvenile enthusiasm,* I felt scarcely less interested on the ♦ III CDinpaiiy Mitli Uie Hon. Jolm l'.lU<)tt, now n senator from Georgia, and 3o\\u Wynn, jum. from the haine slate. G2 ill 44 Tour to Quvbcc^ |iiCBent occasion, and again walked over the wliole tract, li iti a beautiful meadow, siuiated at the intersection of the Fishkill with the Hudson, and north of the former. There is nothing now to distinguish the spot, except the ruins of old Fort Hardy, built during tiie French wars, and the deeply interesting histo- rical associations which will cause this place to bo memorable to the latest geneiaiion. STiriLWATEll. TO SANDV-IIILL. This ride of twenty-two miles we took before dinner. After viewing the Held of siurender, which is seven miles above Still- water, and thirty-tw^o above Albany, we j}assed(m two miles tiu'- ther, to the bridge at Fort Miller, where we crossed to the eastern side of the Hudson. On coming near the heatl-wateri> of this river, we begin to tread on ground famous, not only in the war of the revolution, but in those numerous and bloody campaigns, of a still earlier date, in whicii the French and the savages carried lire and slaughter into the vast frontier of the northern English cohmies. The cont'^sts then sustained were distinguished by innuensc sa- crifices, eHbrls, and s\illerin";s on the part of the English colo- nies; sacriilces, eiiorts, and sullerings which, not^vililslanding the groat aids occasionally received from the mother-country, scarcely admitted, for a. long course of years, of any serious and permanent intermission. ]*ort Miller was one of the j)osts esta- blished in those wars, and ti)rmed a link in the chain which connected the upper waters of the Hudson with those of the lakes (reorge and Cnamplain, and of course with Canada. Fort Miller 's completely levelloil, and I know not oi' any ])ar- ticular event, of signal importance, connected with its history, except that here, or a little way below, General Uurgoyne, when prociieding to Stillwater, on the \3\\\ and 14th of September, 1777, passed most of bis army over the Hudson. From this place we pmsued our journey, along the left bank of the river, to Fort Edward, and Sandy-Hill. In tlie whole distance, from Albany to the latter place, (nearly fifly milcfi,) there is scarcely a hill, even of moderate elevation, and the scenery is extremely similar to that which 1 have already described. The river, sprinkled with islands, llowa through beautiful meadows, and appears, in many places, smooth and glas?iy as a mirror, aiul its nu)lion is scarcely prrceptil)le, eithev to vight or healing; again, il is agiluted, andwitii ripples and waves, iu ingetl liviru shallow and rocky bottonj, or uashes riipidly pre;-iseil by steel, an;l tceblv lires with ii ; is it a peculiar kind of' calcareous sand-stone r It is of a dark hue, and is shaped into handsome bh)cks, by the tools of the workmen. I was gratili*^! to see such lirm and massy walls constructed of this stoae; indeed, in point of solidity and beauty, they would do honour to tlu; modern wet-ducks ol (jreat IJi'itain. It is inicnded lo have u h)'.k at this place, where there is a considerable di'sceut into the Hudson. TluM'e is a village at Fort Edward, bearing the same namt', and I ou<>;ht to have remarked that tliere are villa«2;es at Still- water, l^aralcga, and 1^'ort ?»lilkr ; bnt there is notliing particu- huiy interesting in either of tlieai. Fort Edward, however, is memorable, on account ol' its former im[>orlance : It is situated near the great beiul of the [huUon, ami formed the immediate roiniectiou with J^ahe (Jeoige, which is sixteen miles, and with Lake Champlain, which is twenty-two miles tlihlant. It wn" originally only an entrenched camp, and was con^trucled by the unibrtnnate C\>l(»m>l Williams, afterwards slain, in 1755, near Lake (.Jieorge; but 'AA its situation was imj)ortant, it was soon converteil into •::. regular lort. Its walls, built of earth, were raised thirty leet higli, wiili ditches conepoiuling in depth ami width, and it was (lelended by cannon. It stands on the brink of the Hudson, and the embankment was continued along the river. The walls appear to be, in some places, still twenty feet high, notwithstanding what time and the plough have done to reduce them : for the interior of the l()rt, and in some places the parapet, are ]>';int(Ml with potatoes. I kiu w not that this fort was ever besieged or stormed, al- th<.ngh it was often threatened. In the hij-t French war, it was an in!])()rtant station, and m (Jeneral Hingoyne's cam|)aign it formed the medium ol" co'nmunieation with liuke (jeo/ge, whence tin* provisions wrii' brought torwartl lin- the use of the ISriti -h army, which was detained on ihi^ accoinn, at ami near Fort Edward for six wcvks, by which lueiiUH they hjst the bent part of thy H<.'uson li»i niililatv operaiiui^', ui.. tliey moved ilowo ill 1 \ 46 Tour to Quebec, the river, they rchnquished the connexion with Fort Edward and Lake George, and were never able to recover it. MASSACRE OF MISS m'CREA. The story of this unfortunate younj* lady is well known, nor should I mention it now but lor the fact, that the place of her murder was pointed out to us near Foit Edward. We saw and conversed with a ])erson who was acquainted with her, and with her family ; they resided in the village of Fort Edward. It seems she was betrothed to a Mr. Jones, an American re- fugee, who was with Burgoyne's army, and being anxious to obtain possession of his expected bride, he dis))atched a i)arly of Indians to escort her to the British army. Where were liis alfection and his gallantry, that he did not go himself, or at least that he did not accompany his savage emissaries! Sorely against the wishes and remouj^ trances of licr friends she committed herself to the care of these lienils : — strange inla- tuation of her lover to solicit such a conlidence — stranger j)re- sumption in her to yield to his wishes ; what treatment imd she not a right to expect from such guardians ! The party set lb) ward, and she on horscbuck; they had pro- ceeded not more than half a mile from Fort Edward, when they arrived at a spring, and halted to drink. The impatient hwer had, in the mean time, dispatched a second party of Indians on the same errand ; they came at the unlbrtunale nujment to the same spring, and a collision innnediately ensued as to the pro- mised reward. Both parties were now attacked by the whites, and at the end of the conflict the unhappy young wonuvn was found toma- hawked, scalped, and (as is said,) tied ilist to a pine-tree just by the spring. Tradition reports that the Indians tlivided the scalp, and that each party carried half of it to the agonized lover. This beautiful spring, which still Hows lin»})id aiul cool from a l)ank near the road-side, antl this fiital tree we saw. The tree, which is a large antl ancient j)ine, " lit ibr the mast of some tall ammirai," is wounded ii\ nuiny places by the bulls of the whites, (ired at tlie Indians ; they have been tliiassion in one, from whose hands she was snatched, the V; )y woman became the victim. Upon the first intelligence Oi ♦ • : , event, I obliged the Indians to deliver the murderer into my hands, and though to have punished him by our laws, or piinciples of justice, would have been perhaps unprecedented, lie certainly shoulil have sufi'ered an ignominious death, had I not been convinced by my circumstances and observation, l)e- yond the j)ossibility of a doubt, tl'.iit a pardon uiuler the terms which I presented, a»»d they accepled, woidd l)e more ellica- cious than an execution, to prevent Himllar miscliiefs." SANDY Iin.K, AND THIJ MASSACRE TIICIli:. Sandy hill* ''is tlclightfuily situated just above IJaker's falls — it contains a wooUeii-nianul'actory, a court-house, a bjuik, an acatleiny for young ladies, anil about eighty h()u>es." Tiiia prelly and llovnish'ng village 'm regularly laul out, and compo.-^ed of neat and handsome houses, many of whidi siuroimd a l)eau- tiful eenlial giei'U. The village of Saiuly Hill is of recent origin, and the scite on which it stamls was formerly the scene olMudian barbarities. From Mr. II., a very respecta])le inhabitant, 1 learneil the iol- lowing singidar piece of l\islt)ry. • WorrcMlor'fi (invrttrrr. 1^ It i 48 Tour to Quebec, Old Mr. Schoonhoven, recently living in this vicinity, and f)robably still survivinir, although at the great age of more than four Hcore, informed Mr. H. that during ihe last French war, he, and six or seven other Americans coming through the wilder- ness, from Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George to Sandy Hill, had the misfortune to be taken prisoners by a party of the savages. They were conducted to the spot, which is now the central green of Sandy Hill, and ordered to sit down in a row upon a log. Mr. Sclioonhoven pointed out to Mr. H. the exact place where the log lay ; it waH nearly in front of the house where we dined. The Indians then l)egan, very delibe- rately, to tomahawk their victims, commencing at one end of the log, and splitting the skiiUs of their prisoners in regular succes- sion; while the survivors, compdled to ;qt still, and to witness the awful fate of tlieir companions, awaited their own in unut- terable horror. Mr. Sclioonhoven was the last but one, upon the end of the log, opjiosite to where the massacre commenced ; the work of death had already proceeded to him, and the lifted tomahawk was ready to descend, when a chief gave a signal to stop the butchery. Then approaching Mr. Sclioonhoven, he mildly said, " do you not remember ihat (at such a time) when your young men were dancing, poor Indians came, and wanted to dance too; your young nien said ' no ! — Indians shall not s, the ilawn was now fully disclosed, and their outline, by coiUrast with their dark sides, was renderetl beautifully dis- linct ; while llieir reversed images, perfectly reilecte«l from the most ex«iui>ite of all mirrors, presented n»()unlains pendant in the deep, and adhering to their bases, to llio>e which, at the sanie moment, were emulating the heav<'n'^. VoVAtins *//?./ TuAVELs, /'(>/. V ] L H t I i I ! r s 50 Tour to Qmbec, \4\ A boat had been engaged the evening before, and we now rowed out upon the lake, and hastened to Old Fort George, whose circular massy walls of stone, still twenty feet high, and in pretty good preservation, rise upon a hill about a quarter of a mile from the southern shore of the lake. I was anxious to enjoy, from this propitious spot, the advancing glories of the morning, which, by the time we had reached our station, were glowing upon the mountain-tops, with an effulgence that could be augmented by nothing but the actual appearance of the king of day. Now the opposite mountains — those that form the western barrier, were strongly illuminated down their entire declivity, while the twin barrier of the eastern shore (its ridge excepted) was still in deep shadow ; the vapour on the lake, which was just sufllicient to form the softened blending of light and shade, while it veiled the lake only in spots, and left its outline and most of its surface perfectly distinct, began to form itself into winrows,* and clouds and castles, and to recede from the water, as if conscious that its dominion must now be resigned. The retreat of the vapour formed a very beautitiil part of the scenery ; it was the moveable light drapery, which, at first, adorning the bosom of the lake, soon after began to retire up the sides of the mountains, and to gather itself into delicate curtains and festoons. At the distance of twelve or fourteen miles, the lake turns to the right, and is lost among the motmtains ; to the left is North- west bay, more remote and visible from the fort. The promontory, which foi ms the point of junction between the lake and the bay, rises into lotty peaks and ridges, and apparently/ forms the northern termination of the lake. Up these mountains, which lire even more grand and lofty than those on the sides of the lake, the vapovu', accumulated by a very slight movement of the atmosphere from the south, rolled in immense masses, every moment changing their form ; now obscuring the mountains almost ciuirely, and now veiling their sides, but permitting their tops to emerge in unclouded majesty. Anxious to witness, from the surface of the lake, the first ap- pearance of the sun's orb, we regained our boat, and, in a few moments, attained the desired position. Opposite to us, in the direction towards the rising sun, was a j)lace or notch, lower * This, |)i'Shiltl\, is iiii Aiiicricaii wmil, (iiM'iiiiiiij; od .. certainly never before saw the sun rise with such majesty, i have not exaggerated the effect, and, without doubt, it arises principally from the fact, that Lake George is so completely environed by a barrier of high mountains, that it is in deep shade, while the world around is in light, and the sun, already risen for some time, does not dart a single ray upon this imprisoned lake, till having gained a considerable elevation, he bursts, all at once, over the fiery ridge of the eastern mountains, and pours, not a horizontal, but a de- scending flood of light, which, instantly piercing the deep shadows that rest on the lake, and on the western side of the eastern barrier, thus produces the finest possible effects of con- trast. When the sun had attained a little height above the mountain, we observed a curious effect; a perfect cone of light, with its base towards the sun, lay upon the water, and, from the vertex of the cone, which readied half across the lake, there shot out a delicate line of parallel rays, which reached the wes- tern shore, and the whole very perfectly represented a gilded steeple. As this effect is opposite to the common form of the sun's effulgence, it must probably depend upon some peculiari- ties in the shape of the summits of the mountains at this place. REMARKS ON LAKE GEORGE AND ITS EVIRON9. Every one has heard of the transparency of the waters of Lake George. This transparency is, indeed, very remarkable, and the same, (as we might indeed well suppose it would be,) is the fact with all the streams that pour into it. After the day- light became strong, we could see the bottom perfectly, in most places were we rowed, and it is said, that in fishing, evtMi in twenty or twenty-five llct of water, the angler may select his 11 •«« 52 Tour to Queuec, t fish, by bringing the hook nem' the mouth of tlic on« .i-hich he prefers. Bass and trout are among the most celebrated fish of the lake ; the latter were now in season, and nothing of the kind can be finer; this beautifiil fish, elegantly decorated, and gracefiilly formed, shy of observation, rapid in its movements, and de- lighting, above all, in the perfect purity of its element, finds in Lake George a residence most happily adapted to its nature. Here it attains a very uncommon size, and exhibits its most perfect beauty and symmetry. The delicate carnation of its tiesh is here also most remarkable, and its flavour exquisite. If the lovers of the sublime and beautiful visit the Lake George for its scenery, and the patriotic to behold the places where their fathers, stenimed the tide of savage invasion ; the epicure also will come, not to cherish the tender and the heroic, nor to admire the picturesque and the grand, but to enjoy the native luxuries of the place. The lake is about a mile wide near its head, and is sometimes wider, sometimes narrower than this, but rarely exceeding two miles, through its length of thirty-six miles. It is said to contain as many islands as there are days in the year. I had scarcely any opportunities of observing the mineralogy and geology of this region. The beautiful crystals of quartz, which all strangers obtain at Lake George, are got on the island in the lake ; one about foin* miles from its head, (and called, of course, the diamond island,) has been principally famous for allbrding them ; there is a soli- tary miserable cottage upon this island, irom which we saw the smoke ascending; — a woman, who lives in it, is facetiously called '• the lady of the lake," but probably no Malcolm Greme, and Hhoderic Dhu will ever contend on her account. Crystals are now obtained from other islands, I believe, more than from this, and they are said no longer to find the single loose crystals in abundance on the shores, but break up tlic rocks for this purpose. Poor people occupy themselves in pro- curing crystals, which they deposit at the public house for sale. The crystals of Lake George are hardly surpassed by any in the world, for transparency, and for perfection of form ; they arc, as usual, the six-sided prism, and irequenily terminated at both ends by six-sided pyramids. These last must, of course, be found loose, or, at least, not adhering to any rock; those which are broken oif have necessarily only one pyramid, i procured specimens of the rocky matrix, in which the crystals are lormed ; it is of quartzozo nature, and contains cavities finely studded with crystals. The crystals of Lake George I'requently contain a dark cu- In the Autumn q/*18l9. bS 1 loured foreign substance, enclosed all around, or partially so ; its nature, 1 believe, has not been ascertained ; it may be man- ganese, titanium, or iron. I had no opportunity to see the rocks, except those on which Fort George stand, and which form the barrier of the lake, at its head ; they are a dove-coloured, compact lime-stone, of a very close grain, and smooth conchoidal fracture; they very much resemble the marble of Middlebury, (Vermont,) and, 1 suppose, belong to the transition class. I could get no view of the rocks of the two lateral barriers, but, from what I afterwards saw, I concluded they are primitive, and probably (at least the eastern one,) gneiss. The vulgar, about the lake, say, that in some places it has no bottom ; by which, doubtless, ought to be understood, that it is in some places so deep as not to be fathomed by their lines; I know of no attempts to ascertain its greatest depth. The mountains are extensively, or rather almost universally, in dense forest ; rattle-snakes and deer abound upon them, and hunting is still pursued here with success. I was credibly informed, that, a few years since, there was a man in this vicinity, who had the singular power, and the still stranger temerity, to catch living rattle-snakes with his naked hands, without wounding the snakes, or being wounded by them ; he used to accumulate numbers of them in this manner, for curiosity, or for sale, and for a long time persisted, unin- jured, in this audacious practice ; but, at last, the awful fate, which all but himself had expected, overtook him ; he was bitten, and died. Surely no motive, except one springing from the highest moral duty, could have justified .audi an exposure. In some places, the mountains, contiguous to the shores, are rocky and precipitous. Tradition relates, that a white man, closely pursued, in the winter season, by two Indians, contrived to reach the ice on the surface of the lake, by letting himself down one of these precipices, and, before the Indians could follow, he was on his skaits, and darting " swill as the winds along," was soon out of their reach. I am not informed that the height of the mountains about Lake George has ever been measured; they appeared to my eye, generally, to exceed one thousand feet, and probably the highest may be fifteen hundred or more The wreck of a steam-boat, recently burnt to the water's edge, lay near the tavern : it gave great facility in going up this beau- tiful lake to Ticonderoga ; parties and individuals were much in the habit of making this tour ; and wore there a good road, instead of a very bad one, from Glenn's Fall to Lake George, d4 Tour to Quebec, ill \i and were the steam-boat re-cstablislied, it must become as great a resort as the lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland, or as Lock Katrin, now immortalized by the muse of Scott. The village of CaldweU, built entirely since the American war, contains five or six hundred inhabitants, with neat build- ings, public and private, and a very large couunodious public- house, well provided and attended, so that strangers visiting the lake can have every desired accommodation. This village, I am inlormed, has arisen principally tioni the exertions of one enterprising individual, from whom it derives its name, as well as its existence. He has lived to see his labours crowned with success, and a pretty village now smiles at the foot of the western barrier of Lake George, on ground where the iron raujparts of war are still visible ; for, on this very ground, the Marquis Montcalm's army was entrenched, at the siege of Fort William Henry, in 1757. BATTLES OF LAKE GEORGE. In the wars of this country. Lake George has long been con- spicuous. Its head-waters formed the shortest and most con- venient connexion between Canada and the Hudson, and hence the establishment of Fort William Henry, in 1755, and in more recent times, of Fort George, in its immediate vicinity. This most beautiful and peaceful lake, environed by moun- tains, and seeming to claim an exemption from the troubles of an agitated world, has often bristled with the proud array of war, has wafted its most formidable preparations on its bosom, and has repeatedly witnessed both the splendors and the havoc of battle. Large armies. Nave been more than once embarked on Lake George, proceeding down it on their way to attack Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; this was the fact with the army of Aber- crombie, consisting of nearly sixteen thousand men, including nine thousand troops from the colonics, and a very formidable train of artillery, which, on the 5th of July, 1758, embarked at the south-end of Lake George, on-board of one hundred and twenty-five whale-boats, and nine hundred battcaux. What an armament for that period of this country ! What a spectacle on such a narrow quiet lake ! It is said by an eye witness to have been a most imposing sight. Little did this Eroud army imagine, that within two days they would sustain efore Ticonderoga a most disastrous defeat, with the loss of nearly two thousand men, and of Lord Howe,* vone of their most beloved and j)romising leaders, and tliat they would so J * Father of the Howe wlio fi^incJ so much during the revohitionary wnr« as {Treat I, or as niericaii t build- pviblic- visiiini^ village, 5 ot one as well led with western parts of Marquis William een con- ost con- 3n, and ^55, and vicinity. y inoun- Dubles of array of ;s bosom, he havoc on Lake onderoga of Abei- including ►rinidable MU barked idred and What a by an eye did this Id sustain he loss of of their would so lonary m'«u« I :'**«•* ^ LAKE (T.KOWr.'K, froin tlie VUlai;i.' of C.xlwi'Jl 'IP' K/lau/ Sr /' H,l^x,ia. H'fitjd A- moT^'Tv.-y\\jKo, Appioath ui Uic iioupc I* I* « Jn the Autumn of 1819. 55 soon return up the lake in discomfiture and disgrace. In July, of the next summer, (17.59,) Lake George was again covered '.vith an arinumeut, little inferior in numbers to that of General Abercrombie, but vastly superior in success ; for Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned at its aj>proach, and General Amherst, its fortunate leader, obtained an almost bloodless victory. FORT WILLIAM IIENUF. The remains of this old fort are still visible; they are on the verge of the lake, at its head ; the walls, the gate, and the out- works can still be completely traced ; the ditches have, even now, considerable depth, and the well that supplied the garri- son is there, and affords water to this day ; near, and in this fort, much blood has been shed. THE BLOODY POND. Just by the present road, and in the midst of theso battle- grounds, is a circular pond, shaped e,' actlv like a bowl; it may be two hundred feet in diameter, ai.d was, when I saw it, J'nli of xDatcVy and covered xcilh the pond-Ully. Alas! this pond, now so peaceful, was the common sepulchre >f the brave; tlie dead bodies of most of those who were slain o^^ this eventful day were thrown, in undistinguished confusion, into this nond; from that time to the present, it has been called the Ltoodt/ Potid, and there is not a child in this region, but will f oint you to the French mountain, and to the Bloody Pon j. I stood with ilread upon its biink, and threw a stone inf its anconscious waters. After these events, a regular fort was constructed at the head of the lake, and called Fort William Henry. MASSACRE OF FQRT WILLIAM HEVRY. The three battles of September 6th, were n t the end of the traiJ-edies of Lake George. The Marqiiis de Montcalm, after three ineffectual attempts upon Fort William Henry, made great efforts to besiege it in form, and in August, 1757, having landed ten thousand men near the fort, summoned it to surrender. The place of his landing was shewn me, a little north of the public- iiouse; the remains of his batten s nd other works are still visible; and the graves and bones <„. the slain are occasionally discovered. He had a powerful train of artillery, and although the fort and works were garrisoned I^y three thousand men, and were most gallantly defended by tlie commander. Colonel Monroe, it was obliged to capitulate; but the most honourable terms were granted to Colonel Monroe, in consideration of his great gallantry. The bursting of the great guns, the want of ammu- 56 Tour to Quebec. .. )■ % nition, and, above all, the failure of CJcnerul Webb to succouv the fort, although he U>y idle at Fort Edward with lour thousanil men, were the causes of this catastrophe. The capitulation was, however, most shamefully broken; the Indians attached to Montcalm's army, while the troops were marching out of the gate of the fort, dragged the men from the ranks, particularly the Indians in the English service, and butchered them in cold blood— they plundered all without distinction, and murdered women and little children, with circumstances of the most aggravated barbarity.* The mas- sacre continued all along the road, through the defile of the mountains, and for many miles, the miserable j'visoners, espe- cially those in the rear, were tomahawked and fiewn down in cold blood ; it might well be called the bloody dejile, for it was the same ground that was the scene of the battles, oidy two years before, in 1753. It is said that efforts were made by the French to restrain the barbarians, but they were not restrained, and the miserable remnant of the garrison with diflkulty reachetl Fort Edward, pursued by the Indians, although escorted by a body of French troops. 1 passed over the whole of the ground upon which this tragedy was acteil, and the oldest men of the" country still remember this deed of guilt and infamy. Fort William llenry was levelled by Montcalm, and has never been rebuilt. Port George was built as a substitute for it, on a more commanding stite, aiul although often mentioned in the history of subseipient wars, was not 1 believe the scene of uny very memorable event. WHITEHALL— TllR CANAL. Til r. canal terminates twenty-two miles from Fort Edwar|H!ii, aiitl tlirir liowrls, willi iiifiiilt, llirowii iti llicir ^lu■(■^<.— liitiintH iiiid cliiltlnMi wtTo liarhiuoiisly tiikrii Ity llii< Id-i'Im, kimI their hruiiis (l nto:i^, I iiit<>ii-o^:i!tMl a plain man, (nppnrcMitlva snlistniitiHl faitiUT.) Ihruiiffli wliosr itosscssious llw canal pa..- id, why ili.'} thijc Ihn ranal l»y IIk; sitle «tt' WckmI Creek, wliidi app«:trarnilh, tlial il \v«,s to cut np pco. plo'n land, anrin^' at all into tiiJH nian'M vicw.s, ur hh ^tippos- ini( liini Ww, least in (lie ri.clit, Init merely to f^ive a specimen of a HpetMcn of local irritutitni, wliieli I helieve is ndt nncominnn in similar cases, wliero \'mi\\% «r«' inlerncclt'd I y laiuds, or li) new inrnpike-roads, or wliore (Iii-m' lariliti<-s lor transportation ^ive a iwvi direction to lra\ellin^' or to trade, or alter tlio caliinaled value ot pnipert>. i VoYAUlM *//»(/ Tu A VKLK, Vol. Vll. I 58 Tour to Quebec^ m h/i» parts of the town are connected by u bridge over Wood Creek. The population of this town is between two and three thousand, and the village contains a Presbyterian ineeting-ho\ise, ft)ur warehonscs, ten stores, and more than one hundred dwcUing- hous: ses. =* The fever and ague is now very prevalent here, and numy sallow faces and feeble frames are to be seen about the streets. The country, both up Wood-Creek and down the lake, con- tiguous to the town, looks as if it might nourish fever and agne, but the inhabitants deny that it is their inheritance, and profess io consider the visitation of this summer as fortuitous. I am afraid that their canal, with its stagnant waters, will not help tlu'iu to more health. A thick fog prevailed here most of the time that w<' were in the place, and rendered it uncomfortable to move out ol' doors till the middle of the forenoon, when it blow away. This will probably become a considerable place, situated as it is at the head of the lake navigation, and at the poiut ol' com- munication between the Hudson and Lake Champlain. It de- rives some little importance from the snudl navy maintained on the lake in time of war; there is a small naval arsenal here, and, at present, there are a few naval oflicers and men at this station. THE OLD MAN OF THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. Two miles from Whitehall, on the Salem-road to Albany, lives Henry Francisco, a native of France, and of a place which he pronounced Essex, but doubtless this is not the orthogniphy, and the place was, probably, some obscure village, which may not be noticed in maps and gazetteers. Having a few hours to spare, before the departure of the steam-boat l()r St. John's, in Canada, we rode out to see (pro- bably) the oldest man in America. He believes himself to be one hundred and thirty-four years old, anil the con y around believe him to be of this great age. When we arrist.'. at his re- sidence, (a plain farmer's hotjse, not painted, rather out of re- ])air, and nnich open to the wintl,) he was u])-stairs, at his diuly work of spooling and winding yarn. This occupation is auxi- liary to that of liis wife, who is a weaver, an>'()! •rslrt'x (fHivttcoi. Hi folii- his rc- of IV- is (buly s aiixi- I more ho ohl Siip- () him, ul sup- in niosi of \\u'. (I slrn- Jiithe Julumnof[hi9. 59 tier, he stoops but little, even when unsupported. His com- })lexion is very lair and delicate, and his expression bright, cheer- lid, and intelligent; his Ibatures are handsome, and considering that they have endured through one-third part of a second cen- tury, they aie regular, comely, and wonderfully undisfigured by the hand oi" ;"nie; his eyes are of a lively blue; his proiile is (Grecian, and very line; his head is completely covered with the most beautiful and delicate white locks imaginable ; they are so long and abundant as to fall gracefully from the crown of hia head, parting regularly froui a central point, and reaching down to his shoiditers; his hair is perfectly snow-white, except where it is thick in his neck; when parted there, it shews some few tlark shades, the renniants of a lormer century. He still retains the liont teeth of his upper-jaw : his mouth is not fallen in, like that of old people generally ; and his lips, par- ticularly, are like those of midtlle-lile; his voice is strong and sweet-toned, although a little tremulous : his hearing very little impaired, so that a voice of usual strength, with distinct articu- lation, enables him to understand; his eye-sight is suilicient for his work, and he distinguishes large print, such as the title-page of the Bible, without glasses; his health is good, and has always been so, except that he has now a cough and expectoration. He informed us that his father, driven out of France by reli- gions perse ution, Hed to A msterilam ; by his account, it must have been in consequence of the j)ersecutions of the French Pro- testants, or Ilugonots, in the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV. At Ainhti'rdam, his lather married his mother, a Dutch- woman, five years belbre he was born, and before that event, re- turned with her into France. When he was live years old his father again tied on account of " de religion," as he expressed it, (for his language, althouj^h very intelligible English, is marked by French peculiarities.) lie says he well remembers their tlight, and that It was in the winter; for he recollects that, as tliey were descei\d- ing a hill, which was covered with • -jw, he cried out to his (ii- ther, '' () tluler, do go back and get m^, little carriole," — (a little boy's sliiling sleilge or sleigh.) From these dates we are enabled to fix the time of his birth, provided he is conect in the main fact, for he says he was present at (jueen Anne's coronation, ami was then sixteen years old, the J I St d,»y of Mi»y, old style. Mis I'liher, (;•- he asserts) after his return lVon» IfoUaml, hail ag:iin hwn driven iVom l''rance, by persi'cution, uiul the second linu: took refuge in Holland, an(l, alu'rwards in I'^ngland. whert; he resided willi his family at th(^ lime of till* ctnonation ol' (^u'-en Anne, ii, »«''i. This makes I'runcisco t«) havi- been born in lf»H(j; to have !>i'en expelled tiom France in iOlM, and, therefore, to have completed his hundred 12 GO Tour to Quebec, and thirty-third year on the 11th of last June; of course, he is now more than three months advanced in his hundred and thirty- fourth year. It is notorious, that about this time, multitudes of French Protestants iled, on account of the persecutions of Louis XI V^., resuhing from the revocationof the edict of Nantz, which occurred October 12, 1()85, and, notwithstanding the guards upon the frontiers, and other measures of precaution, or rigor, to prevent emigration, it is well known that for years multitudes contiiuuHJ to make their escai)e, and that thus Louis Tost six hundred thousand of his best and most usefid subjects. I asked Francisco, if he snio Queen Anne crowaed ; he replied, with great animation, and with an elevated voice, "Ah! dat I did, and a line looking woman she was too, as any dat you will see now a-days." * He said he fought in all Queen Anne's wars, and wa at many battles, and under n\any conunanders, but his memory fails, and he cainiot remember their names, except the Duke of Marlbo- rouoh, who was one of them. lie has been nuich cut up by wounds, which he shewed us, but cannot always give a very distinct account of his warfare. IIo came out witii his father from England to New- York, probably early m the last ccntuiy, but cannot remember the date. He sh'mI, patlietically, when pressed for accounts of his mili- tary experience, " O, 1 was in all Queen Anne's wars; I was at Niagara, at Oswego, on the Ohio, (in Braddock's defeat in 1755, where he was wounded.) I was carried prisoner to Quebec, (in the revolutionary war, when he nuist have been at least ninety years old.) I lii!;ht iii all sorts of wars, all my lifiT; I see dread- ful trouble; au(l den to have dem we tought our friends, turn tories; ami the British too, and light against ourselves, O dat w»'.s de worst of all." He here seemed nmch affected, and almost too full for utter- ance, it seems that, during the revolutionary war, he kept a tavern at Fort Edward, and he lamented, in a very animated manner, that the tories bmnt his hoiise, and barn, and four hun- dred buslu "grain ; this, his wife said, was the same year that Miss M'Crea was nnndeied. He has had two wives, and twenty-one children ; the youngest child is the daughter, in whose house he now lives, and she is fifty-two years old: of coiuse, he was eighty-two wlun she was born ; they suppose several of the older children rre still living, at a very advanced age, beyond the Ohio, but 1 * I'or Hn iniloKnrtl iiiaii, Ik; liiis very tearrtnce for any purpose, out to produc<» fever and ague, imlcss, by and by, it should, by dykeing and ditcliing, be rescued, like Holland, from the dominion of the water, and con- verted to the purposes of agriculture. The chaimel through which we passed is, for miles, so nar- row, tlmt the steam-boat could scarcely p»it about in it, and there seemed hardly room for the passage of the little sloops, which we frecpiently met going up to Whitehall. At the very head of this natural canal lie moored to the bank, stem aad stern, 11 //) the Autumn of 1619. CS the flotillas * of Macdonough and Downie, now, by the catas- trophe of battle, united into one. As we passed rapidly by, a few seamen shewed their heads through the grim port-holes, from which, five years ago, the cannon poured fire and death, and we caught a glimpse of the decks, that were then covered with the mutilated and the slain, and deluged with their generous blood. Sparless, black, and frowning, these now dismantled ships look like the coffins of the brave, and will remain as long us worms and rot will allow them, sad monuments of the bloody conflict. Our passage down the lake presented nothing particularly in- teresting, except the grandevir of the double barrier of moun- tains which, although much inferior in height to those of Lake George, are still very bold and commanding. It seems as if the lake had been poured into the only natural basin, of magnitude, which exists in this mountainous region, and as if its boundaries were irrevocably fixed by the imj)assable barriers of rocks and al[)inc hnul. The mountains, particularly on the eastern side, presenting to the eye their nuked precipitous clifl's, composed of the edges of the strata, were evidently (almost without exception) gneiss. This was the fact also from Lake George to Lake C lampluin, and at Whitehall, notwithstanding the assertion of a late Eng- lish traveller,t that they are lime-stone. At Whitehall the rocks have a very beautiful stratification ; the hills appear as if cracked in two, and one part being removed, we have a fine vertical section : both their horizontal and perpendicular divisions re- semble a regular piece of masonry, and this is the prevailing fact as we pass down the lake. The dip of these strata of gneiss, which is the east, is very moderate, not exceeding a few degrees, and this appeared to be tlie general fact. On our ride from Fort Anne to Whitehall, the road passed down one of the natural declivities formcil by the dip of the rock ; for several hundred feet to the right and lell, and in the direction of the road, the carriage rattled over this perfectly naked and smooth natural pavement. I had, to-day, ♦ II was a great piecr orscli-denial (o ino not to goon-board of tliis flotilla, but (a rirciinistanco which i should not otiiorwisu nu>ntion) 1 v^ns, all tho lim*; wo wcii* at Whilehall, and, indeed, all the wa\ to Montreal, in a slate ol' severe snllering, from an ague in my face and head, whieh obliged me fo avoid the damp air and the damp meadcjws where the flotilla lay moored to tliH natiual Itank of tlieereek. t liieuteiiant Ifall, whose liook is generally a ntnidy and intcrcsliug per- loimunce, but Homulimes inaccurate on geological topics. 64 Tour to Quebec, I no opportunity to land to inspect the rocks, but, as the boat often passed very near the cHfis, sometimes within a few yards, I was sufficiently satisfied concerning their general nature, and that the country was highly primitive. During our passage ot' twenty-five miles to Ticonderoga, we had a fine descending sun shining in full strength upon the bold scenery of the lake, and that I might enjoy it undisturbed by the bustle of a crowded deck, I took my seat in the carriage, where I was protected equally from the fumes of the boat and the chill of the air, and could at my leasure catch every variety of images, and all the changes of scenery, that were passing be- fore me. It was with very great regret that I found we could not stop, even for a moment, at Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and it was not till I had devised and dismissed several abortive plans for leaving the boat and getting on afterwards, or in some other way, that I submitted to puss these interesting places. The sun setting in splendour shot his last beams over Mount Defiance as we came in sight of it, and the commencing twilight, softened by the first approaches of evening, which was not yet so far advanced as to throw objects into obscurity, cast a pensive veil over the scite and ruins of TICONDEROGA. The remains of this celebrated fortress, once so highly impor- tant, but no longer an object either of hone or fear, are still consi- derably conspicuous. As we came up with, and, from the narrow- ness of the lake, necessarily passed very near them, I was gratified as much as I could be, without landing, by a view of their ruins, still imposing in their appearance, and possessing, with all their associations, a high degree of heroic grandeur. They stand on a tongue of land of considerable elevation, projecting south, between LakeChaniplain, which winds around and passes on the east, and the passage into Lake George, which is on the west. The remains of the old works are still conspicuous, and the old stone barracks, erected by the French, are in part standing. This tort was built by the French ; and Lord Howe and many other gallant men lost their lives in the attempt to storm it, in 1738. From this fortress issued many of those ferocious incursions of French and Indians, which for- merly distressed the English settlements; and its fall, in 1759, when, on the ai)proach of General Amherst with a powerful army, it was abandoned by the French without fighting, filled the northern colonies with joy. In 1777, great hopes were reposed upon this fortress as a bar- rier against invasion ; it was regarded as being emphalically the In the Autumn q/'l819. 63 strong hold of the north ; and when General Bvu'goyne, with astonishing effort, dragged cannon up the precipices of Mount Defiance, and slievved them on its sunimit, Ticonderoga, no longer tenable, was precipitately abandoned. Mount Defiance stands on the outlet of l^ake George, and be- tween that and Lake Champlain, and most completely comniands Ticonderoga, which is far below, and within lair cannon-shot. On the sliijhtest glance at the scene, it is matter of utter asto- nishinent, even to one who is not a military man, how so nnpor- tant a point came to be overlooked by all preceding conunanders : probably it arose from the belief, which ought not to have been admitted till the experiment had been tried, that it was impos- sible to convey cannon to its summit. On the right is Mount Independence, where there was a ibrmidable fort at the tnne of General Burgoyne's invasion. The shadows of the night were descending on tlie venerable Ticonderoga lis we left it, and when I looked upon its walls and environs, so long and so often clustering with armies — formid- able for so great a length of time in all the apparatus and i)repa- rations of war, and the object of so nuiny campaigns and battles; but now exhibitinij onlv one solitary smoke, curliiux from a stone chnnney in its half-fallen barracks, with not one animated being in sight; while its massy ruins, and the beautiful green declivi- ties, sloping on all sides to the water, were still and motionless as death, I felt, indeed, that 1 was beholding a striking emblem of the mutability of power, and of the iluctuations of emj)ire. Ticonderoga, no longer within the confines of a hostile country — no longer a rallying-point for terocious savages, and lor for- midable armies — no more a barrier against invasion, or an object , of siege or assault, has now become only a pastiue for cattle. At Ticonderoga the lake takes a sudden but short turn to the right, and forms a small bay, with Mount Defiance on the left, Mount Independence on the right, ami Ticonderoga in front. This scene is very line, and the whole outline of the spot — the mountains near, and the mountains at a distance — the shores — the bay — and the ruins, ail. unite to make a very grand landscape. Night was upon us before we were up with ('rown Point, that other scarcely less ceiebralid, or l(>ss important fortress. The moon served only to enable me dimly to see undefined masses of f^tone anil earth, as a bystander observed, '' there are the ruins of Crown Point!" Ahnost everything that has been said historically of Ticonde- roga is a])|)licable to Crown Point, only there has not been much l)l(K)d shcnl before its walls. This fortress also was built by the French ; it wan e({\uilly annoying to llie English colonies as Ticomleroiia ; its rethictiiin was as ardentiv de^iied, and as Voyages ^/W(/ Tkavcls, Vol. VII. K i I i 66 To7ir to Quebec, many campaigns were undertaken for this purpose. Like Ti- conderoga it was retained by the French till 1739, when it was quietly abandoned by them, and Lord Amherst, on taking pos- session of it, built an entire new fortre^is of stone, and made it much more formidable than before. A NIGIIT ON LAKE CIIAMPLAIN. The recent loss of the Phoenix, and the tragical events by which it was accompanied, might well have caused us some anxiety in the prospect of a night-passage on the lake ; but the weather was fine and the water smooth, and we had a good boat, furnished with a gentleman's cabin on deck. As I was, however, scarcely able to sleep at all, I passed most of thu night in the carriage, both as being a pleasant situation, and as afford- ing me some opportunity of observing the lire, the management of which I was willing enough to sec. 1 am sorry to say, that I was disappointed in not observing that anxious vigilance which, after the late dreadful occurrence, we should naturally expect to lind. Large piles of pine-wood, very dry of course, and also very hot, from their being placed near the furnace and boilers, occupied « the middle of the vessel. A candle was placed by one of the people on a projecting end of a stick of this wood. It had burned nearly ilown. and a fresh north wind blew the flame di- rectly towards and almost against the pine-slivers, which were very dry and full of turpentine, and therefore in a condition to catch fire with the greatest case. Hapj)ily, from the contiguous carriage-\v indow, Mr. W observed this threatening can- dle, and after some import unity with the people, (who seemed very indillerent to the danger,) succecdetl in having it removed. It might, very naturally, have caused the Congress to share the fate of the I'huinix, which was burnt by a candle placed in a situation of less apparent danger ; that is, near a shelf in a closet, where it communicated fne to »he board.* We found one other unpleasant circumstance : the boat stopped several times, at diflerent places, on the two shores of the lake, to deliver and receive freight, and our captain being extremely dilatory, we were delayed one and two hours at a place. SCENERY, PLATTSIJURGII, &C. At three o'clock in the morning we stopped at Burlington, and left the carriage and horses with the young man to take care of them till our return from Canada, it was ilay-light belbre we left this place, and the morning i^iest'uted a scene so similar * (Ml our lutuin W(; I'oiiiul tlic Coii;;r( s:« muKi ;i \w\\ caitfaiii, uiid u inucli liiuic 8tii( t police, wliich kit no laithcr loom to «oiii|>laiii ot iui;liytiicc. i In the Autumn q/'1819. 67 ,s by to Long Island Sound, that we could hardly persuade ourselves tliat we were on fresh water. Although the weather was fair, and we coulil see the most distant shores, the high mountains were hardly distinguishable, being shrouded in vapour. Early in the forenoon we were in Plattsburgh Bay, and passed over the scene of Commodore Macdonough's brilliant victory ; an event singularly decisive in its circumstances, mo- mentous in its results, and honourable in the highest degree to that able and gallant commander. At this memorable place, (the only one since we left Ticonde- roga and Crown Point, where a long delay would have been grateful,) we had time only to walk a little way towards the village, and to visit one of the batteries, signalised in September, 1814, in repelling the enemy from the passage of the Saranac. Dr. L. Foot,* of the army, caused the little time we had to spend, to i^ass both agreeably and usefully; but we were soon again under way, and doubling Cumberland Head, round which the brave but unfortunate Commodore Downie sailed, to defeat and death, we left the beautiful bay of Plattsburgh, with all its grand and interesting associations. ENTRANCE INTO CANADA. OuRp assage down the remainder of the lake was very rapid, and we soon arrived at the American Custom-house; the boat was visited, but our baggage was not examined, and we were treated with the greatest civility. This ceremony (for it was a ceremony merely) being over, we were very soon abreast of the great stone castle, resembling that on Governor's Island, at New- York. It was erected by the American government, on Rouse's Point, upon the western- side of the entrance into the river Sorel or Richelieu, and was designed to command the communication between that river and Lake Champlain. In consequence of a late determination that the boundary-line (the 45th degree of latitude,) passes a little south of this castle, it now falls to the British government. The current favoured our progress, and we pushed on vei*y inij)etuously through the quiet waters of this very considerable river, whose smooth surface was thrown into waves by our rapid course. The country on both sides is the most uninteresting that can be well imagined. It is a low wet swamj), not redeemed like Holland, but, to a considerable extent, too much covered by water to admit of immeiliate cultivation. A few patches of clear and dry land; and a few jjoor humlets appear here and there, but there is no village worth mentioning in the whole * A riioiwl, Mini (or srvi ral vcars a pupil. K2 [^ j I i n ft" C8 Tour to Quebec, distance of twenty miles to St. Jolm'ri. The land appears to tlie eye as if it wcie even lower than the water, and v" nutnnilly think of fevers and ayues, which, however, are raid '>v >-"? ef rare occurrence, iind are probably prevented by a teni' -rdp. rlinuite. At some i'uture day, shoidd this country become ^ j>uijus, this low marshy land, which is })robably fertile, may be rescued from the water, by the same means which have caused such scetics of richness niul beauty to be exhibited in Holland. Tlie only very interesting object in the river is the Isle aux Noix, eleven miles from the iiontier, and eight or nine from St. John's. The glitter of arms — the splendour of tl\e British uni- form — the imposing appearance of ramparts and cannon — the beauty of the log barracks of the oiUcers, painted in stripes— and the bustle of mihtary activity, of course excited a degree of in- terest, and aflbrded an agreeable relief tiom the dull scenes of forests and swamps. Tlie Isle aux Noix is important in time of war, as being the frontier British post, and has been many times a point of ren- dezvous for armies and llotiilas, not only for the invaders, but for the defenders of Canada. We both left and received passengers at this island, but with- out going oiu'selves on-shore, and less than one hoiu* from the time we left it brought us to the wharf at St. John's, in Lower .Canada : we arrived before night on the 30th of September, ten days from our leaving Hartforcl.* ft ST. John's, and depahtdre for Montreal. St. John's. — I scarcely sawany thing more of this little town than what might be observed in passing to the inn, where we found attention and kindness, but a house so crowded that we were very willing to leave it on our way to Montreal. We did not go with most of our steam-boat companions in the stage, which went on in the night, to La Prarie, but the next morning were furnished with an extra conveyance, in which we proceeded on our journey. There are good stages at St. John's, exactly like the most common kind of American stage-coaches, or rather stage-waggons, and they are furnished with good horses. Indeed, we were informed that these establishments were set up by Americans, whose enterprise and activity are re- markably contrasted with the unvarymg habits of the native Canadians. The private carriage in which we travelled was an old fa- shioned hack, such as might have been seen in American towns * Such is the expedition of the public vehicles, that this distance may be travelh'd in three day«. ^ fl Ill Ihe Aiilumn 0/I8H). 69 iJ \ twenty or twenty-live years ago ; the cunvuss cvirtians, (without windows,) were torn, had tew or no strings to secure thenk in place, und llapi)ing in ti brisk hetid-wind, ihc^y served to let in rather than to exchide tiio ct)Ul air, and very iiujii-rilctly screened us li'oni a driving rain. Our coachman was a V'ennont lad, who luid eniigiuted ni childhood, along widi his parei\ts, but he had not caught the Canailian tardiness oi'nu)veinent, I'or he (hove us at a g eat rate, over a roud very level but by no nica IS smooth ; we were, however, willing to bear pretty severe jolting for the sake of expedition. We had an interesting ride of twelve miles on the left bank of the Sorel river, which murmured along by our side, and were charuied with the pretty comfortable white cottages, constructed very neatly of hewn logs, and forming apparently dry and warm dwellings. Almost every moment we met the cheerful looking pea- saiUs, driving their little carts, (charettes,) drawn by horses of a diminutive siiie. The men were generally stiindingup in the body of the cart, with their lighted pipes in their mouths, and wore red or blue sashes and long conical woollen caps of various coloiu's. These carts were furnished with high rails, and occa- sionally with seats, occupied by females and children ; they ap- peared( like our one-horse-',vaggons,) to furnish the most conunon accommodation for transporting both commodities and persons. We gave our horses a lew moments of rest at Chambly, but were prevented by the rain from leaving our inn. I regretted this, however, the less, as we expected to return through the same place, and might be more favourably situated. We lost no time in resuming our journey, and drove in less than three hours to Longueil, through a perfectly level country, well-cultivated, lertile, considerably populous, and furnished with very neat and comfortable white lionses, constructed of hewn logs, like tliose on the Sorel river. The barns, frecpiently of a large size, were usually built in the same manner ; but the want of good frame-work was very obvious in their frequently distorted appearance. FIRST GLIMPSE OF MONTREAL. At the village of Longueil, or a little before arriving there, we cauglu the first view of Montreal. The first impression of this city is very pleasing. In its turrets and steeples, glittering with tin ; in its thickly-built streets, stretching between one and two miles along the river, and rising gently from it; in its environs, ornamented with country-houses and green fields ; in the noble expanse of the St. Lawrence, sprinkled with islands; in its foaming and noisy rapids ; and in the bold ridge of the moun- tain, which forms the back-ground of the city, we recognize aU 70 Tour to Quebec^ i the iotiturcs rt?cessary to i\ rich and magnificent landscape, and perceive, among these indications, decisive proofsot'a lloiirisliing inland emporium. PASSAOE OF ST. LAWIIEVCE. Ip we experienced some elevation of feeling at the first view of the St. Lawrence, we were not likely to have our pride cherished by the means which conveyed us over this miglity river. Two Canadian boatmen ferried us over in a canoe, hollowed out of a single log. Our baggage being duly phiced, we were desired to sit, face to face, on some clean straw placed on boards, which lay across the bottom of the boat : wo were situated thus low, that our weight might not disturb the bidance of the canoe, and we were recpiested to sit perlectly still. Oin* passage was to be nearly three miles oblicjuely up stream, and a part of the way against some powerful rapids. Between us and Montreal, considerably up the stream, lay the brilliant island of St. Helena. It is elevated, commands a line view of the ciiy, is strongly marked by entrenchments, is fertile, and covered in part witU line timber. It is a domain, and wc were nuich struck with the beautiful situation of the house on the s(mth side of the island, belonging to the Uaroness Lonqueil. With the island and river it would form a fine subject tor a picture. Our boatmen conveyed us, without much dilhculty, to the southern point of this island, between which and the city, owing to the compression of the river by the island, a ])()werhd rapid rushes along with nuich agitation, and a current which it is very diihcult to stem. At the point of the island, particulaily a branch of the river, confined by rocks, dashes along, almost with the rapidity of water bursting from a llood-gate. Through this strait it was necessary to pass, and, for some time, the boat went back, and even after landing us on the island, the canoe was coming aro\inil broadsidi- Vo the current, when we were apprehensive that our baggage nnist be thrown into the river; but, by main strength, thev j)U^hcd the boat through this torr(!nt, inul along the shore ol the island, till the rapid became so moderate, that they ventnreil again to take us in, ami pu'^h for the city. It took these p(»or fellows a toil- some hour to convey us over, und they demanded but a pittance lor theii' Hcrvict»s. FIRST nipiinssioNs or montokal. \Vi* mounted a sl^^p sli|>pery bunk, fr<stabli>^hnients, to his own, in Montreal. Meiiig worn out with sullering, from the caiu.e which I men- tioned at Whitehall, 1 w;vs obliged to betake myself imniediately to my room and bed; but I was not permitteil to tecl that 1 was a St ranger ; so kind were the atteiuions and so appropriate the various little comforts auu relVeshments that were pnniiled and administereil. The next morning, having obtained complete n-lief from what I had not e\[)ectetl, superior smgical skill,* 1 was enableil to begin to I'njoy, as well as to see, the new objects around li.e. MANNEllS or THE GUKSTS. DiNNTR here is at five o'clock; soup was ready, however, at almt)st any previi us hoio', and we partuok ol' thin relieshment, not having been recently accustomed to so late an \\o\\\' i(>r diimer. We found at table a small party of very respectable men, appari'ntly Knglishmeu; and we wro particularly and agreeably MrucKwith the gentleir.anly mainieis uf eviry indivi- dual at tabK>, where, although the giusts were sirani^ers to us, and probably most of them to each ottier, all were polite, atten- tive, aiul sociai)le, without that selfnh ii dilference, or rude familiarity, so connnon at some |)»ibHc tables, where a correct i\u-dinin seems hardly lo be undi-rsiood. The manners of this circle were particularly contrasted with those ol'a certun group, which we dad euct)unlerid during oiir tour, and from which it was ir.i|)o>sil)le, at the lime, lo make our escape. They were noi^y, drinking, swearing, caril-playin;| * In « iiitnlc Mitliciciitly citriuus nial uii^:iiial, wliicii I »liall iiuiitiuu riiiiliri uii. I i hi'' I > i ^ 72 Tour to Quebec^ gentlemen^ and of all ages, from twenty to sixty, but in their manners so alike, chat youth and age were Htly associuied. We began, at evening, to receive the calls of those to whom we had letters, particularly ofsouieof our own countrymen, aiul obtained at once all the local inl'ornuiiion which we needed, to direct our innnediate movements, iuid lo enable us to form and mature our pluns. EVEMNCf SCENES ON TIIF ST. LAWRENCE. The weather being mild and line, parlour-lires were not yet kindled in Canada, but, as we preleiied a lire Ibr ourselves, we relirc'il at candle lighting into a large and well-runushed room, with a bow eid, and ovcrlookiuii a terrace, thirtv lltH wide and t)ne hundred and lorty-ioiu* long, which is the le.gth of tlie house. This terrace is thirty liet above the river, imiii(>diately on its brink, and connnands a view ci'it, for many miles up and down the stream, and of the country on the otluM- sliore, thus presenting a most delightlid prosjject. This room was our ])arlour, while we remained in the house, and we were particu- larly I'onil of viewing iVom its wimlows, and Irom the terrace below, the line scenes ol' twilight and evening on the St. Law- rence. We had anticipated some inconvenience in visiting Canada so late in the season, on account of the shortness of the days ; but the loni; and brioht twilight, both at nuirninu' and evening, maile us ample amends, and we l()uud as nuu h light as we U'lt behind us, although less of sunshine. At hall-alter live, with the sim down, and the moon at the full, in the iirmament, wo sit at the dinner-table, ai)parently in broad day-light. I'l'om the moment the ^un is down, every thin;; l>ecomes si- lent on the shore, which our windows overlotik, antl the unn- murs of the broad St. Lawrence, nu)re than two milis wide, innuediately belbre us, mul a little way to t!te liglit, sprei.ding to live or six miles in breadth, are somi tiiiu>s li)- \\\\ latur the niilv soin\ds that ane-l our attention. I'>v«'ry evening since we have bi>en here, blaek clouds ami splendid moonlight have hung over aiul embellished this tran(p»il scene: am) on two of iho.se evenings we have been attracted to the window, l»y the jilain- tive CanadiaJi bou^-^ong. in one instance, it arose from a solitaiy vovager, tl(»ating in Id-^ light eanoe. \N!>i( h occasionally appeartd ami disappeared lU the sparkling river ; and in its dis- :i taut coinse seemed no larger than some sport n>g insei t. I n n»othf r in-^lancea larger boat, with more numero\is and less me- lodious Noice-, not ihl-eil in (>«ili'el harmony, passed near»M' to the shore, aitd gave addiiional lili" to the scene. -A It'w nu>menlH after tlu' nuM>n broke out fiom a throne of dark clouds, nnd (lu I In the Autumn 0/ J819. 7S scMjmed to convert the whole expanse of water into one vast wlieet of ^littonnjjf silver, aiul in the very brightest spot, at the tlistuiico of more than a milo, a{>ain appeared a solitary !)oat, but too (list iiU to n'>l'nit oi' our luariii^ tlu; sonijr, with which the boatman was probably solacing hib lonely course. DAY-SCENES OW TIli: ST. LAWUCNCT,. The mere contcinplation of 11 river, presenting such n broad oxpatise of water, at the ilistance of live hundred miles from the ocean, is interesting^ and pleasinjr. At this season it is a tran(juil scene, but the liser j)re.-ents very consiilerable diversity. On our right it spreads iiUo a broad lake, |;i-neraUy smooth, but in numbers of places it is rullleil by rapids and broken by led iprEBEr, iVtau the S.'Vy, J.AhK. r«KO.W€t: from luri ('■I'Ki'wv tn Ihe Autumn of 1819. 77 Uivers, and appeared a mild and amiable man. From our otlicr cumpanions, to whom we made known our country, and our views in travelling, we received every desired information, and the most obliging civilities. Tlie military gentlemen particularly were very courteous, and as they were not only acquainted with Canada, but had seen much of other countries, and of foreign military adventures, they were very interesting and instructive. One of them had witnessed in person some of Wellington's victories; and another, a man of most original and attractive cha- racter, and apparently of zcarin picf^, had been not less occu- pied in the East-Indies, in promoting schemes of benevolence than in the pursuit of arms. Having been warned that Quebec would burst upon us, all of a sudden, and that we were drawing near to it, our eyes now gazed in no other direction, and our thoughts became entirely fixed upon that object. APPROACH TO UUEBEC. Oct. 6. — This seat of ancient dominion — now hoary with the lapse of more than two centuries — formerly the seat of a French empire in the west — lost and won by the blood of gallant armies, and of illustrious commanders — throned on a rock, and defended by all the proud defiance of war — who could aj)- proach such a city without emotion ? — Who in America has not longed to cast his eyes on the water-girt rocks and towers of Quebec ? On approaching this city, abont the middle of the day, we enjoyeil the most propitious circumstances of light and weather. From Cape Rouge, on our loft, (soven miles above Quebec,) there is an uninterrupted range of hign ground, rising even into hills and precipices. Caj)e uonge is so called from its red co- lour — the pivcjpilous bank being stained, probably, by oxid of iron, so as to give it for miles a reddish hue. The latul grew higher and higher; we ])assed the mouth of the Chaudiere river, six miles frt)ni Quebec, on our right, where a number of ships were waiting to take in timber, and we watched every moment for the ap})earance of the great fortress of the north, while one of our military actpiaintances pointed out to us the various interesting objects aswe caine up with them in succession. At length we descried the towers of Quebec, standing on a rock of three hundred and forty feet in height, measured Irom ihe river. 1 have already remarked, that the banks (especially the north one) are for miles above the city very precipitous, and they grow more so the nearer we approach. About two u\iles from Quebec we were shewn Sillery river antl i^ive, and within one mile, or a mile and u half of the city, WoUe's cove, now filled --<^ounded by the ground just mentioned —by the Isle of Orleans lour miles down the river, and by a delightful country, on the north and north-east, intersected by the Montmorenci and St. C-'harles' rivers, whicii full into the bay ; the ground slopes with charm- ing declivity to the water, around which it sweeps gracefully like a how, an I presents in a long circuit so many snow-white cottages — imndsome country-houses, and fine populous villages, that it seems ibr leagues almost one continued street. The land is finely cultivated, and even now is covered with the deepest verdure and sprinkled with dandelions in full bloom. Buck of this line amphitheatre of rural beauty, ranges of mountains stretch their shaj'i'v summits and limit the view. The harbour is one of th:3 grandest imaginable, and the whole scene resembles ex- tremely the pictures of the bay of Naples, to which it is said, by competent judges, to bear a strong resemblance. We had scarcely time to admire this line scene bcl()re we were moored at the ilock in the lower town, in the midst of all the din of a crowded port. While we were waiting lor the necessary arrangements to land, we had a few mo'.nents to contemplate the new scene before us. Contiguous was the lower town, skirting the upper, and em- bracing the feet of its rocky precipices. It makes a circuit of, I should imagine, almost two miles, and is crowded in the most In the Autumn of 1819. 70 1 from tilt* landed hin the preci- innon and works ot* u the high ch, as we g, upon han three the uppei- isteru side eciplce oi' on which k'erod with Monckton, ^, to boni- ming wiih lit of coni- >e a porli'ct > l>oundod lour niiles nortli and . t:harhV th charm- gracefully low-white s villages, The land le deepest Back of nountains liarbour is Mublos cx- is said, by d scarcely : the dock ded port, s to land, before us. and em- circuit of, the most compact uiannorp()iJt:;ible, on u narrow stripof land between the precipices and the St. Jjawrence. The houses are so far below the walls of the upper town, that a stone could be dropped into the chimnies of the nearest, and it would in most places fall two or three hundred feet in the air before it reached its object. One of the most striking objects before our eyes was the Cas- tle of St. Louis, the residence of the governor. It is a hundred and stxty-two feet long, forty-tive broad, and three stories high. It stands (almost im])ending over the lower town) upon the very verge of the giddy precipice of two hundred leet in height, and lofty pillars are built up from the rock below to support its gal- lery, which runs the whole length of the building. It is a plain yellow structure of stone, and now exhibits no appearance of a castle, although it was a fortress under the French government. From the castle an observer may look down perpendicularly upon the houses of the lower town and see all the confusion, even to the motion of a tlog; all the otlensive as well as the agreeable objects of a crowded port — the grotesque assemblage of buildings, peculiar (as is sai to an old French town; he may hear the rumbling of carts a, arays, and the jargon of ditferent languages, and he will inhale the smoke and gases from a crowd of chimnies, rising to the foot of the building on which he stands. On the right of the castle the massy walls appear again, and the black artillery pointing over the parapet look like beasts of prey, crouching and ready to leap upon their victims. '^e soon landed under the auspices of Captain (our newly-acquired military friend,) who politely shewed us our lodgings in St. John's-street, had our baggage conveyed to them by 1ms own servant, and called soon alter to enquire lor our welfare. ENTRANCE INTO QUEUEC. As we passed along the streets of the lower town I could well have thought that we were in the Wa})ping ofLondon. A swarm- ing population, among whom sailors were conspicuous; the cheering heigho ! of the latter, working in the ships ; the various merchandize crowded into view in ti'ont of the shops and ware- houses; the narrow compact streets, absolutely lull of build- ings ; the rattling of innumerable carts and drays, and all the jargon of discordant voices and languages, would scarcely per- mit us to believe that we were arrived in a remote corner ot the civilized world. We did not feel so absolutely like strangers as we should have done without the countenance of the captain. I have nlready mentioned that a fortuitous acquaintance with this gen- ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) k^O ^ <^ .v^'^* 1.0 I.I I^|2j8 |2.5 |so "^" H^H *- I. L2I |||J-A 1.6 ^ 6" ► '^:^^^' ^V>.> V v% Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR.N.Y. 14StO (7U) 173-4303 in 80 Tour to Quebec, ' \ %\ 1'li : : i'. tleman, on-board the steam-boat, and an incidental disclosure to him of our views in visiting Canada, led to a good deal of mutual kindness, and on his part to offers of service. He is a captain of the grenadiers ; is still a young man, and being open, frank, and friendly in his deportment, he won our confidence, and did not withhold his own. We learned that he served in the Peninsular war, both under Sir John Moore and under Wel- lington ; he was with the former when he fell, in the flight of the British army from Corunna, and with the latter from St. Sebastian's, at the battle of Vittoria, and on various other dis- tinguished occasions. His wife, a very fine young woman, who, with another lady, had come to the wharf to receive him, joined us, and with this pleasant little party we entered Quebec. The first street of the lower town, along which we passed, came to an abrupt termination, the last house standing at the foot of the precipice, when, turning suddenly to the right into a street, one of whose sides was overhung by the frowning rock, we soon came to a foot-passage of stairs made of plank, very steep and high, and furnisVied with iron-railings ; this passage terminated in Mountain-street, as it is called, from the steepness of the ascent. It is the only passage from this side into the upper town, and it was by no means an easy task to ascend it, even on a good foot-pavement. In the mean time we admired the strength and agility of the little Canadian horses, which, with heavily-loaded carts at their heels, perseveringly scramble up this arduous ascent, and with still greater care and firmness sustain their ponderous vehicles when descending, and prevent them from hurrying themselves and their burdens headlong down the steep. The Castle of St. Louis (literally a castle in the air) was now seen immediately above our heads on the left, at the distance of two hundred and fifty feet. It is completely on the edge of the precipice which overhangs the lower town, and, from its dan- gerous pre-eminence, appears ready to participate in the destruc- tion which it seems threatening to all below. We now passed the grand Prescot Gate, under ponderous arches of stone, of great thickness and weight, and entered the upper town. The impression of every thing was completely foreign from any thing that we see in tlic United States. Buildings of wood, and even of brick, are almost entirely unknown. Stone, either rough from the quarry, or covered with white cement, or hewn according to the taste and condition of the proprietor, is almost the only material for building ; roofs, in many instances, and generally/ on the better sort of buildings, glittering with tin- , In the Autumn o/1819. 81 plate, with which they are neatly covered ; and turrets and stee- ples pouring a flood of light from the same substance ; these are among the flrst things that strike the eyes of a stranger entering the city of Quebec. If from the United States, he sees a new population, and, to a great extent, a completely foreign people, with French faces and French costume; the French language salutes his ear, as the common tongue of the streets and shops : ir short, he per- ceives that even in the very capital, there is only a sprinkling of English population ; it is still a French city ; and the cathedral, the extensive college of the Jesuits, now used for barracks, and most of the public buildings and private houses, are French. He sees troops mingled here and there with the citizens ; he perceives the British uniform, and the German in the British service, which remind him that the country has masters different from the mass of its population ; and although the military are obviously not subjects of terror to the citizens, the first impres- sion borders on melancholy, when we see these memorials of an empire fallen, and of an empire risen in its stead. Sixty years have done little towards obliterating the Gallic features of the coun- try, and with a pleasure very rarely experienced in similar cases, we involuntarily revolve in our minds, here is a country con' quered although not oppressed. Trumpets, and bugles, and French-horns now startle us with a sudden burst of martial music, and we can hardly believe that we are not arrived in a fortified town of Europe. It was a fine morning, (October 7th,) and, as we were about to avail ourselves of this favourable weather, to visit some parts of the environs of Quebec, I will first describe our carriage, which was THE CANADIAN CALASH. This is not unlike an American chaise or gig, but is built much stouter, and with or without a top ; the horse is much far- ther from the body of the carriage, and this allows room for a driver, whose seat rests on the front or foot-board of that part of the vehicle in which we ride; this foot-board, after slopmg in the usual manner, then rises perpendicularly to such a height as to sustain the seat; high sides are also fiirnished to the part where the feet rest in a common chaise, and thus children and bugorage are secured from falling out. The calash carries two grown persons on the seat witnin, besides the driver, v/ho is otlen a man; his seat, and the board which supports it, fall by means of hinges, when the passengers arc to get in, and the board and seat are then hooked up again to their place when the driver Voyages wnt/TRAVELH, Vol. VII. M 82 J'our to Quebec, n>' P'rt' n;ti.i m^ mounts. Ill such a machine, which is the most common vehicle of tlie country, and is sometimes, as in the present instance, made clumsilj/ handsome, we made ovir first excursion from Quebec. Our driver was Michael Gouvan, a very intelligent and oblig- ing young man, a French Canadian, who spoke both English and French ; and his horse (an iron-grey) was one of that small, but hardy breed, which being, in this country, left in their na- tural state, are extremely stout and courageous, and carry the heavy calash and three men, apparently with more ease than our horses draw our chaises and two grown persons. EXCUllSIOxV TO BEAUPOIIT AND MONTMORENCI. I HAVE already observed that it was a very fine morning; the temperature was mild, and the skies bright, with a balmy soft- ness in the atmosphere, accompanied by a slight haziness ; it ia exactly like our Indian summer, and, indeed, they here call this kind of weather by the same name ; we could not have had a more acceptable time for our little journey of nine miles, to the Falls of Montmorenci. We passed out at the gate St. John, on the north-western side of the town ; it stands at the head of the street of the same name, and leads to a very extensive and populous suburb, situated en- tirely without the walls. This suburb exhibits many new and good buildings, and appears modern. We soon reached the beautiful meadows, north-east of Quebec, through whith flows the river Charles. On our left was an extensive nunnery, quite by itself, in the fields ; it appears to be the same described by Charlevoix, nearly a century ago, under the name of the hospital. For four miles we passed through some of the most beautiful meadows which I have ever seen ; they were neatly divided into small enclosures, by stakes driven into the ground, and secured at top by a rail fastened with withes; the meadows were covered with thriving cattle ; they were still rich in deep verdure, and would have adorned the banks of the Connecticut, or of the Thames. The road throuojh them was much cut up by wheels, as this is a great thoroughlare into Quebec, and the land is na- turally moist and rich. Houses were scattered here and there, upon the meadows, and when we began to ascend the rising ground we entered the extensive village of Beauport. This village, consisting of sixty or seventy houses, is built principally on one street, of four or five miles in length, and ex- tends quite to the river Montmorenci : it is one of those which I mentioned as making so brilliant an appearance from the bay of Quebec. The farms and garden-grounds of this village are "all in a floiu'ishing state, and the orchards and occasional clumps of trees coml>ino to render it one of the pleasantest roadn rising In the Autumn o/1819. gfS in the environs of Quebec. This village is the residence of many families of respectability." * The houses are generally of stone, covered with a cement, and white-washed, I'oof and all; this gives them a very neat ai^pcar- ance, and makes them look veiy brilliant, even at a consitlorable distance; commonly they are of one story, sometimes of two, and inside they appeared very comfortable. The windows, as is genetally the fact in the French houses, are divided up and down ill the middle, and swing like doors on hinges. There is in this village a large and showy church, with three steeples, and on enterinjr it we foimd solitarv individuals at their private devotions, crossing themselves with holy water, and si- lently moving their lips. This church contained a number of pictures, and they were ornamenting its ceiling with golden roses. Our driver left his calash, went into the church, fell on his knees, and said liis prayers with much apparent seriousness. The Montmorenci is a small, but rapid river, rolling tumultu- ously over a very rocky bottom, and just above t'ne falls; is con- siderably SFualler than the Housatonuck, at the falls of Salisbury, in Connecticut. Leaving our calash and driver on the high hill, which forms the western bank of the river, we crossed a bridge, and passed down the eastern side of the Montmoivnci, which is also very high ground, and, as we approach the St. Jjawrence, it rises so as to be even still higher than the opposite shore. From this elevation the beautiful island of Orleans, which is twenty miles long and live wide, was in full view before us. It is well culti- vated, contains about four thousand inhabitants,+ and, next to Montreal, is the most important island in the river. On the side contiguous to where we were, it slopes to the water's i^^gi^, and terminates in a handsome beach of sand. A similar beach corresponds to it on tne main ; the ship-channel is on the other side of the island. As we passed along through the fields we found a man and boy ploughing. The oxen were yoked, not as with us, by the shoulders and neck, but by the horns. A kind of yoke lay upon their necks, and was fastened by leather straps io llie horns, but no bow or other contrivance passed around the neck; thus the oxen draw entirely by their horns; and I am told that the French farmers cannot be inducetl to adopt our mctliod, although it is obvious that the animal is thus sadly embarrassed, and can exert very little power. I saw, however, one yoke in another Held, luirnessed in our way. * lloticliflfe. ■f Huni lutfr. if- * I ! 1 84 Tour to Quebec, GEOLOGY. There is very little variety in the geology between Quebec and Montmorenci. After leaving the city the first objects that strike the eye, where the green slopes of the hills have been ex- cavated, in quarrying, are numerous black rocks, very regularly stratified, and looking almost like great beds of coal. These rocks, which prevail through the village of Beauport, are black fetid limestone, in strata nearly horizontal, and presenting in the section of the hills a remarkable regularity, almost architectural. The strata, being divided by seams, both horizontal and vertical, look as if they had been laid up by the skill of a mason. The houses in Beauport are generally built of this stone, and the people burn it into lime at their very doors. Its great regularity, and the ease with which it divides, must make it an excellent building-stone; while the combustible substance which it con- tains will also aid, very materially, in burning it into quick-lime. These strata appear to be secondary limestone. The strata, over which the Montmorenci falls, seem to be (for I could not get near enough to be quite certain,) of the same description. I am favoured by Dr. John I. Bigsby, of the medical staff of tlie British army in Canada, with the following facts, as to the " succession of the strata a few yards above the bridge, at the falls of Montmorenci, on the west-side of the river. " The lowest visible rocks, rising six or eight feet from the bed of the river, are dough-shaped mounds of granite, vertical, with a south-west direction, with many irregular quartz veins, half a foot thick. On it lies a perfectly horizontal sand-stone, so coarse as to resemble conglomerate, (I suspect this sand-stone is a coarse grey wacke). It is four feet thick, and weathered red and white, Upon this rests light hair brown, highly chrystalline lime-stone, very fetid, full of shells, vegetable filaments, massive, blende, and a mineral-like brown spar. This gradually becomes dull, less chrystalline, and at length, at the top of the bank, is nearly a common blue lime (stone),) with a conchoidal fracture, and still here and there containing small crystals of carbonates. The whole height here, is perhaps forty feet." As we walked along upon the eastern bank of the Montmo- renci, and approached the St. Lawrence, we found ourselves on the verge of a precipice, of three hundred feet in height : this terminates at the St. Lawrence, or very near it, in an almost perpendicular promontory, down which, with some difliculty, we wound our way to the bed of the great river. The strata of rock here run parallel to the St. Lawrence, and at right angles ]to the Montmorenci ; as these strata are very soft, and easily de- composed and disintegrated, the Montmorenci, which rolls its " In the Autumn of 1819. S5 rapid and turbulent waters across them, has evidently, by long^ continued attrition, worn them away, so that in the bed of thi» small river, at the falls, these rocks have receded about one-sixth of a mile fioni the St. Lawrence. THE FALLS OF MONTMORENCI. The destructive action of the river itself, upon the rocks which form its bed, and its banks, has produced, in the long course of time, a deep bay, or indentation, shaped nearly like a parabola, or a horse-shoe magnet ; it recedes from two hundred and eighty to three hundred yards* from the St. Lawrence, and its almost perpendicular banks are, in different places, from two to three hundred feet high ; they are composed apparently of fetid lime-stone, very much decomposed, which, on the eastern side, resembles extremely a tine-grained slate, or sand-stone. The crumbled and broken parts become fetid by friction or per- cussion. At the upper end of this bay the Montmorenci, after a gentle previous declivity, which greatly increases its velocity, takes its stupendous leap of two hundred and forty t feet, into a chasm among the rocks, where it boils and foams in a natural rocky basin, from which, after its force is in some measure ex- hausted in its own whirlpools and eddies, it flows away, in a gentle stream, towards the St. Lawrence. The fall is nearly perpendicular, and appears not to deviate more than three or four degrees from it. This deviation is caused by the ledges of rock below, and is just sufficient to break the water completely into foam and spray. The width of the stream, at the moment of its fall, is a])parently fifty or sixty feet ; it may be seventy when the river is swollen by rains, or by the melted snows. The effect on the beholder is most delightful. The river, at some distance, seems suspended in the air, in a sheet of billowy foam,:]: and contrasted, as it is, with the black frowning abyss into which it falls, it is an object of the highest interest. As we approached nearer to its foot, the impressions of grt n- deur and sublimity were, in the most perfect manner imaginable, blended with those of extreme beauty. The river is of so considerable magnitude, that, precipitated * Boiiohette. t It is aS'Oiiisliiii^- that Charlevoix s liilos the Fall of Monlmoronci as being: thirty feet wide, aiiti imfy/bfY// high I cuiiiiot lint tliiiik that there iiiiist have hccii a typo^rraphical error in the omission ol' two hundred, before forty, especially as (."liarlevoix states the height of tlie Niagara Falls very nearly as tliey arc now estimated. It is not probable that a century has made much difference with either. I: It has been compared to a white ribbon, suspended in the air: thiseom- {)ariiK)n does justice tu the dclieaev, but not to thegrandeur of this cataract. 86 Tour to Quebec, ■ I as it is, from this amazing height, the thundering noise, and mighty rush of waters, and the never-ceasing wind and rain produced by the fall, powerfully arrest the attention : the spec- tator stands in profound awe, mingled with delight, especially when he contrasts the magnitude of the fall with that of a villa, on the edge of the dark precipices of frowning rock, which form the western bank, and with the casual spectators, looking down from the same elevation. But these impressions are not suffi- cient to overpower the delicate beauty of this cataract. The sheet of foam, which breaks over the ridge, is more and more divided, as it is dashed against the successive layers of rock, which it almost completely veils from view ; the spray becomes very delicate and abundant, from top to bottom, hanging over, and revolving around the torrent, till it becomes lighter and more evanescent than the whitest fleecy clouds of summer, than the finest attenuated web, than the lightest gossamer, con- stituting the most airy and sumptuous drapery that can be imagined. Yet, like the drapery of some of the Grecian sta- tues, which, while it veils, exhibits more forcibly the form beneath, this does not hide, but exalts the effect produced by this noble cataract. The rain-bow we saw in great perfection ; bow within bow, and (what I never saw elsewhere, so perfectly,) as I advanced into the spray, the bow became complete, myself being a part of its circumference, and its transcendant glories moving with every change of position. This beautiful and splendid sight was to be enjoyed only by advancing quite into the shower of spray,* as if^ in the language of ancient poetry, and fable, the genii of the place, pleased with the beholder's near approach to the seat of their empire, decked the dtvotee with the appropriate robes of the cataract, the vestal yeil of fleecy spray, and the heavenly splendors of the bow. The Falls of Montmorenci have been often described, and we had obtained tolerably definite and correct ideas of them, but their entire impression on us was beyond our expectations. Those who visit this place in tlie winter see one fine feature added to the scene, although they may lose some others. The spray freezes, and tbrms a regular cone, of sometimes one hun- dred feet in height, and standing imwiodiately at the bottom of the cataract. It is even said, that some are hardy enough to clamber up this icy tower. Captain informs uh, that ho has performed this giddy feat. ^ \ • Which was vny copious, aii«l, (if not averted by an ^llllbreIia,)^vollld soon wet the observer (hrous'h his clollics. i I I In the Autumn o/1819. 87 SAW-MILLS AND LUMBER. Just below the falls, on the right-bank of the Montmorenci, at its continence with the St. Lawrence, is the great establish- ment of Mr. Patterson, for sawing lumber. The mills, which are probably as extensive as in the world, are fed by a stream, directed from the Montmorenci, just above the falls. It is conducted along, on the high-bank, in a large artificial channel, of plank and timber, till rushing down the inclined plane, formed by the great natural descent of the hill, it acquires a prodigious velocity, and, falling upon the water-wheels, in the mill, at the bottom of the bank, it imparts an impvilse, sufficiently powerful to turn the machinery of a vast establishment, and performs a very freat amount of labour. Nor does it injure the cataract, as lieutenant Hall, in his travels, supposes it would ; for, it is no more missed from the stream of the Montmorenci, than a pebble would be from its banks. Contiguous to these mills is a vast deposit of lumber ; much of it is afloat, and is guarded from floating quite away by wharves and pillars, and by very extensive artificial dams, run- ning out a great way into the St. Lawrence, and forming a large basin. I cannot say with confidence how many acres it appeared to cover ; my elevation on the contiguous bank was so great, that I might be much deceived ; but it served, together with the deposits which we had seen at the Chaudiere, at Sillery, in Wolfe's Cove and other places, to give us a strong impression of the magnitude of the Canadian lumber trade ; it is in fact the principal business of the country ; and the ships waiting to re- ceive It are very numerous. A good deal of this lumber, as we were assured, comes from Vermont, and is rafted down Lake Champlain and through the rivers Sorel and St. Lawrence. To us, who had never seen any thing to compare with the ex- hibition of lumber on the waters around Quebec, this sight and the other similar ones appeared very remarkable. The number and size of the ships, also, that are waiting to receive it, far exceeded our expectations, and evinced that, if Great Bri- tain cannot supply herself with lumber on good terms, from any other source, this colony must, for this reasor* alone, be very important to her; and, indeed, it has obviou.-') this great advantage, as a source of supply, that it is in a greiiC measure dependent of the contingency of war. As an article of trade, however, I am aware that lumber, from its great bulk and low value, makes a much greater show than a commerce in mmiy commodities which, in a much more snuff way, may imply a vastly greater amount of capital and of prohts. u . t 'II' ■ hi ,,4 ,. 1^ f H 88 Tour to QuebeCf The lumber rafts on the St. Lawrence well deserve to be men- tioned among the curiosities of the river. We found some of them around us in the morning, as we were coming down to Quebec, and were amused with the view of these anomaiou!^ floating communities. Some of them occupied thousands of square feet on the water, and exhibited an active, grotesque population, busy in steering these ponderous mis-shapen piles down the current of the river ; they erect huts upon them, and contrive to concentrate upon the rails the few and coarse accom- modations, which their frugal habits and their tardy inland voy- age may demand. We did not expect to find oppressively hot weather in Canada so late as the 7th of October, but, in clambering the precipices about the falls of Montmorenci, we experienced a degree of heat like that of the middle of July. EXCURSION TO THE FALLS OF CHAUDIERE. Oct. 8.— With our faithful Gouvan, and our comfortable calash, we crossed the St. Lawrence about the middle of the day. We had come down to the wharf much earlier, and waited two hours for the boat, which was detained on the other side, at the command of a party of the officers of justice, who had gone over to whip a culprit ; at length a great company of them returned in the boat with their badges, and bringing with them the miserable man. As usual elsewhere, in such cases, it excited and gratified the mob, but the disgraced and chastised offender wore an aspect very different from the consequential air of the constables, or from the grinning insolence of the populace. Arrived on the opposite shore, we soon ascended the steep heights of Point Levi — saw where General Monckton erected his batteries to bombard the city, previous to the unsuccessful battle at Montmorenci — and enjoyed a brilliant and new view of Quebec, and of its environs — the fortifications and precipices appearing particularly grand from this elevation. VIEW OF QUEBEC FROM POINT LEVI^ No position in which we were placed afforded us so impres- sive a view of the rock of Quebec, and particularly of its castel" ^fl^erf appearance, as this from the summit of Point Levi. This will be reaaily intelligible. The distance is about one mile. On the ex- treme left is a glimpse of the heights and plains of Abraham — on the extreme right the hills about Beauport and Montmorenci. Im- mediately before us is the rock of Quebec ; and the extent of the {)art that is seen is about one mile : nearly the whole of it is iterally a naked rocky precipice of a very dark hue, almost black, and composed of enormous strata of slate and lime-stone, very In the Autumn of \S19, rude, both on account of their natural contortions, and the ellects of blasting and of other forms of violence upon them. On the summit of the rock on the left, where it is three hundred and forty-Hve feet high, is the citadel, standing on Cape Diamond ; some way to the right of this, where the rock declines considerably in height, appears the castle of St. Louis. Still further to the right, and scarcely distinguishable among the buildings, is thePrescot- gate, at the top of Mountain-street, which comes obliquely up from tlie lower town, and alFords the only communication on this side of the rock. Beyond the gate, on the left, is seen the English epis- copal cathedral, and to the right the Roman Catholic cathedral, the parliament-liouse, the seimnary, &c. and in front of these last is the wall of the city, with embrasures and cannon, form- ing the grand battery, which occupies a lower level, or natural platform of the rock, which is here about two hundred and thirty leet high. At tlie foot of the rock is the lower town, and if we add to it that part exhibited from Montmorenci, we have then very nearly the whole of the lower town. Nearly on the extreme left of the rock at the foot of Cape Diamond, in the lower town, is the place where General Montgomery was slain on the morning of Decem- ber 31, 1775 ; and on the right, at the foot of the rock, or grand battery, is the street where General Arnold's party were defeated and captured on the same occasion. 9|t V tIt flr Tfr 9 ^ V ^ The villages through which we passed were not so well built as Beauport ; a larger proportion of the houses were constructed of logs, and the people appeared not in so good circumstances, but still they were comfortable. The road to Montmorenci was rough ; that over which we were now passing was smooth, and, compared with any other roads that we had seen in Canada, it was very fine. We passed through a large settlement, sustained principally by the great lumber establishment of Mr. Caldwell, and soon arrived at the mouth of the Chaudiere river, over which we were ferried. During the whole ride from Point Levi, we had been gratified by a succession of fine views': the river — the opposite shores, precipitous in almost every direction — the heights of Abraham — Cape Diamond and the upper and lower towns— the slopes of Beauport and the heiglits of Montmorenci — the Isle of Orleans, and the bosom of the river — some of these features were con- stantly, either in prospect or retrospect ; and we saw many scenes which would have been well worthy of the pencil. After crossing the Chaudiere, oiu' road became more rough, Voyages «»(/ Til A V ELS, Vol. VII. N 90 Tour to Quebec, .1! I and was evidently much less frequented. In mounting the bank from the Chaudiere, it was so steep, that it was with difficulty the horse dragged up the empty calash. Somewhat less than two miles from the falls we turned into the fields, and at a farm-house obtained a French Canadian to act as our guide through scenes which, we were assured, would to strangers soon become quite a labyrinth. It was not long before we were obliged to leave our calash and proceed on foot, when, crossing a small river, we entered a forest, where an ob- scure cart-path soon dwindled into a foot-path, which we pur- sued over a rugged and unpleasant variety of surface. The afternoon was very hot, and we were much fatigued, but •our journey was rendered less irksome by the society of Mr. H d, an interesting young Hibernian, who had accompanied us from Quebec. Owing to our detention at the ferry, it was nearly sun-down when we arrived at the falls, and we were too much hurried to enjoy the Chaudiere quite at our leisure, as we yesterday did the Montmorenci. The Chaudiere is a river of considerable magnitude, but, owing to its numerous rapids, falls, and various obstructions, it is scarcely navigable, even for canoes. It rises from the Lake Megantic, near the American territory; its general width is from four hundred to six hundred yards, and its course is more than one hundred miles long. The banks are in general high, rocky, and steep, " the bed rugged, and much contracted by rocks jutting from the sides, that occasion violent rapids."* Among the falls in this river, those which we had come to visit are the most considerable. Salient points of rock narrow the river so much, that its breadth does not exceed four hundred feet, and the descent is estimated at one hundred and thirty.* Enormous masses of rock lie on the shore contiguous to the falls, and by similar masses the cataract is divided into three parts, which re-unite before they plunge into the aby^s at the bottom. Ledges of clay slate, alternating with grey wacke slate and red slate, here form the natural dam, over which the water is precipitated. I saw no granite, as Lieutenant Hall mentions m his travels ; and as the region is a transition one, I doubt whe- ther he has not fallen into a mistake on this point. We emerged fi"om the deep gloom of the forest exactly at the place where the cataract becomes visible, although the sound produced by it (at a distance scarcely audible,) had been for some time rapidly increasing on the ear. I I * finucli«tte. le bank thcuUy led into idian to would lot long on foot, B an ob- we pur- iied, but of Mr. mpanied iin-down iirried to f did the de, but, ctions, it lie Lake width is e is more jral high, acted by ds."* le to visit that its descent is Tiasses of 3y similar I re-unite slate and B water is mentions )ubt whe- ;tly at the the sound [ been for In the Autumn of 1819. 01 This cataract is grand, and wild, and turbulent, roaring and dashing, and foaming over its irregular barrier — current encoun- tering current, and all plunging into a restless whirlpool, boiling with incessant agitation; thence, undoubtedly, its French name of the Pot, or boiling Cauldron. Colonel Bouchette has given the following accurate sketch of these tails : — " The continual action of the water has worn the rock into deep excavations, that give a globular figure to the revolving bodies of white foam as they descend, and greatly in- crease the beautiful etfect of the fall ; the spray thrown up be- ing quickly spread by the wind, produces in the sun-shine a most splendid variety of prismatic colours. The dark-hued foliage of the woods, that on each side press close upon the margin of the river, forms a striking contrast with the snow-like effulgence of the falling torrent; the hurried motion of the flood, agitated among the rocks and hollows as it forces its way towards the St. Lawrence, and the incessant sound, occasioned by the cataract itself, form a combination that strikes forcibly upon the senses, and amply gratifies the curiosity of the admiring spectator. The falls of the Chaudiere are by many considered as superior to those of the Montmorenci ; but although vastly grander, on account of their width and the great quantity of water, they did not strike us as having snch jJeculiar beauties, and as ditfer- ing so much from common cataracts ; that of Montmorenci is probably without a parallel in North America. * * * * The Chaudiere is interesting, from its connexion with a pro- jected road* to the United States. The Canadian settlements on the river du Loup are seventy miles from the nearest 7Vme- rican settlements on the Kennebec, and only twenty from the American line. A mountainous ridge intervenes — it is quite mild, but is intersected by numerous rivers and streams, and would, without doubt, afford practical passes for roads. A mu- tual good understanding between the contiguous countries, would soon effect the object; indeed, Massachusetts, before the late war, appointed commissioners for the purpose of mak- ing a road to the height of land : This will probably be effected at a future, and not very distant period, and will bring Quebec within a distance of no more than two hundred miles by land, from Hallowel, on the Kennebec ; and thence to the ocean, the communication is uninterrupted. By this road, it will be only three hundred and seventy miles to Boston. From Quebec, there is already an excellent road for fifty miles up the Chau- * It was by this route that General Arnold's jiarty, in 1775, penetrated to Quebec. N 2 p i ; :1 it 9f Tour to Quebec, diere, and a tolerable one to the settlements on the river du Loup.* It was eight o'clock, and quite dark, before, on our return, we reached the ferry at Point Levi ; the steam-boat had stopped for the night, and no persuasions or temptations of ours coukl induce the boatmen to put out again. Fortunately for us, a party arrived soon after, who appeared to be persons of intluence belonging to Quebec, and they induced the boatmen to go ; wc fell into the train, and thus they did us good probably without intending it. Our late arrival gave us the pleasure of enjoying a night-view of Quebec, from a position where, otherwise, we should not have seen it. The few lights that were visible, in the upper town, served merely to mark its outline. The lower town look- ed like the illuminated foot of a gloo.iy mountain. It was so dark, when we landed, that the dirt of the lower town could not be seen, and we wound our way up through the steep and intricate passages, rendered faintly visible, by a few lamps, which shed just light enough to exhibit the antique fashion of the houses, and to render us sensible of the gloom of its narrow crowded streets, Mr. W » rode, but I walked with Mr. H " - d, and just as we passed through the peifectly dark arch of the Prescot gate, and issuing into the city, a flash, like lightning, illuminated the upper town, and was instantly fol- lowed by the thunder of the evening gun. It needed but little help from imagination to make us believe that we were entering a fortress of the dark ages ; and the grand flourish of martial music, which immediately burst upon our ears, with the fidl swell and deep intonation of bugle-horns, clarionets, and tnmi- pets, and other wind-instruments, was well adapted to increase the illusion. The imperfect light served to magnify the size of the place d'armes, or military parade, in which we were arrived, and we hastened to the opposite side of it, contiguo\is to the barracks, (formerly the College of the Jesuits.) Here we found the band, consisting of about twenty Germans, who conti- nued to play for some time, and seemed us much gratitied with their own music ns if it had possessed for them the charm of novelty. PLAINS OF AnRAHAM. I HAVE several times had occasion to mention that the wea- ther has been very Hue since we have been in Cnnnda. It has been particularly so since our arrival at Quebec, and the thcr- a . y In the Autumn of 1819. 93 mometey has been at summer heat, or even above, so that our excursions up and down the streets of this mountainous city, and over its environ?, has been sometimes very fatiguing. On one of the fine mornings we drove out tlirough the magni- ficent gate of St. Louis, to the celebrated plains of Abraham, for no one would leave Quebec, without visaing the ground on ^vhich was fought the battle that decided the tate of Canada, and ultimately terminated the empire of the Frepch in North America. There are probably few scenes of warfare which are more intelligible than those in this vicinity. It is very obvious, (after becoming acquainted with the peculiarities of the place,) that any army that is to act against Quebec, must encounter very uncom- mon difficulties. We have already had occasion to advert to some of them, while speaking of the scenes that occurred at Montmorenci. The unsuccessful termination of that affair, evinced that no- thing was to be hoped from any additional efforts in that quarter. The season was already far advanced — the expected co-operation from General Amherst, by the way of lake Champlain, and from General Johnson, through lake Ontario, had not been rea- lized, and it became absolutely necessary to attempt something decisive, as the season would soon compel the English to aban- don the campaign. The camp at Montmorenci was therefore broken up, and on the sixth of September the troops were em- barked and transported up the river ; they were landed, for a season, at Point Levi, and refreshed on the southern shore; but, after some days, again went on-board, and were conveyed three leagues above the city. General Montcalm dispatched a corps of observation after them, consisting of one thousand five hun- dred men, under General Bougainville, but still maintained his station with the main army, at Beauport. On the twelfth of September, one hour after midnight. Gene- ral Wolfe, with his army, leaving the ships, embarked in boats, and silently dropped down with the current, intending to land a league above Cape Diamond, and thus to gain the heights of Abraham. But, owing to the rapidity of the current, they fell below their intended place, and disembarked at what is now called Wolfe's Cove, a mile, or a mile and a half, above the city. The operation was a most critical one — they had to navigate hi silence, down a rariid stream — to hit upon the right place for a landing, which, in the dark, might be easily mistaken — the shore was shelving, and the bank to bo ascended was steep and lofty, and scarcely practicable, even without opposition. Doubt- less, it was this combination of circumsianccs which lulled the vigilance of the wary and discerning Montcalm : he thought I, 3'S ' I!!, . '^ '■ t ! »1 i M 1, . !. ToMr to Quebec, such an enterprize absolutely impracticable, and therefore had stationed only sentinels and picket guards along this precipi- tous shore. Indeed, the attempt was in the greatest danger of being de- feated, by an occurrence which is very interesting, as nuirking, much more emphatically than dry official accounts can do, the very great delicacy of the transaction. One of the French sentinels, posted along the shore, challenged the English boats in the customary military language of tlie French, '' Qui'vitf "who goes there?" to which a captain of Frazer's regiment, who hud served in Holland, and was familiar with the French language and customs, promptly re- plied, " La France.''^ The next question was much more em- barrassing, for the sentinel demanded " A quel regiment .*"' " to what regiment?" The captain, who happened to know the name of one of the regiments which was up the river with Bou- gainville, promptly rejoined, " De la Jiein,^^ " the Queen's." The soldier immediately replied, " Pusse,''^ for he concluded at once, that this was a French convoy of provisions, which, as the English had learned from some deserters, was exj)ected to pass down the river to Quebec. The other sentinels were de- ceived in a similar manner ; but one, less credulous than the rest, running down to the water's edge, called out " Pourquoi est ce que vous ne parlez plus hnut ;^" '' Why don't you speak louder?" The same captain, with perfect self-command, re- plied, '* Tai toi, nous serons entenducs T^ " Hush, we shall be overheard and discovered."* The sentry, satisfied with this caution, retired. The British boats were on the point of being fired into by the caj.tain of one of their own transj)ort-ships, who, ignorant of what was going on, took them tor French ; but General Wolfe perceiving a conunotion on-board, rowcil along-side in person, and prevented the firing, which would have alarmed the town, and tinstrated the enterprize. General Wolfe, although greatly reduced by a fever, to which a dysen- tery wa^ superadded, was nevertheless the first rnan to leap ashore. The rugged ])reciplccs, full of j)rojections of rocks atul trees, and shrubs growing every where among the clifls, into which the bank was broken, presenttd a most forbidding appearance ; and General Wolfe, familiariy speaking to an officer who stood by, said, " I don't believe there is any possibility of get- ting up, but you must do your endeavour." There was only a narrow path leading oblicpiely up the hill; this had been rendered by the enemy impassable, in consecpiencc of being broken up by cross ditches, and there was besides an entrenchment at the top, * NniolUl, vol. \ . p. oG. V jfore had piecipi- )eing de- niarkinfr, do, the allenged e of the captain and was nptly le- iiore eui- l .*"' " to now the ith JJoii- lueen's." :luded at hich, as )ected to were de- han the fourquoi tm speak and, re- shall be ith this of beinaf rt-ships, Frencli ; , rowed 1 Nvould General I dysen- to leap cks and which a ranee ; cr who ' of iret- * only II •ndercd 1 np by he lop, defended by a captain's gnard.* In the Autumn of 1819. 95 This guard was easily dis- f)ersed, and the troops then pulled themselves up by taking hold of the bouglis and stumps of the trees and of the projections of the roeks. This precipice (which may be in dilferent places from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high,) is still very rude and rugged, but probably uuicli less so than in 1759; it can now be surmounted, without very great dilliculty, by men who are un- molested. Wolfe staked all upon a very hazardous adventure : had he been discovered prematurely, through a sj)y, a deserter, or an alramed sentry, his army would have been inevitably lost ; but having gamed, the heights, he formed his troops and met the enemy in good order. The plains of Abraham lie south and west of Quebec, and commence the moment you leave the walls of the city. They are a very elevated tract of ground ; this nnist of course be the fact, as they are on the summit of the heights which terminate at the river ; they are nearly level — free from trees and all other obstacles, and I presume were nearly sot at the time of the battle. Our military friend. Captain , with true professional feel- ing, remarked that it was '' a fine place for a battleJ''' I went to the brink of the precipice, where my guide assured me that Wolfe and the army came up; a foot-path, much trodden, leads through low bushes to the spot. I presuuie that five hundred men posted on this edge would have repelled the whole army. It was about an hour before the dawn that the army began to ascend the precipice, and by day-light they were formed and in perfect preparation to meet the enemy. The IVlarcpiis de Montcalm was no sooner informed that the English troijps were in possession of the heights of Abraham, than he prepared to light them, and for this purpose marched his army across the Charles, from his entrenchments at Beau- port, and between nine a'.id ten o'clock the two armies' met lace to face. Montcalm's numbers were nearly the same as those of the English army, but nearly half of his troops were Indians and Canadians, while the whole of Wolfe's were disciplined corps of the best description. The French general coulil not now, as at Montmorciu'i, avail himself of the cover of entrenchments, be- * 1 was iissiiicd l»v an oHkrr of llic liiilisli uiniv, at Qiiehoc, llmt litis \f\y rifiidi oa|)(ain, wliti comiiiaiKlcd llio jfuaid at iliis |tliif(', is si ill liviiijf oil tlir river Sorol, uiiil imtrc (liaii oiio luiiulrcil \v\xxa old. 1 saw at Moii- Ireal an old oflitor, who was willi Wolfe f)ii this occasion ; lio whs ovi'i l\nu- M'oie, I lAci'iit pci'liaps on tlirir roiifiiu-s. IM 96 Tour to Quebec, l!ii «: rk m !•' ! hind which undisciplined troops, especially if skilled in marks- manship, have often repelled the assaults of veterans. Montcalm made, however, the best possible disposition of hia troops — apportioning his regulars in such distinct bodies along the line, as to support the irregulars in the most effectual man- ner. In front, among the corn-fields and bushes, he placed one thousand five hundred of his best marksmen, principally Indians and Canadians, whose destructive fire was patiently borne by the British line,* but they reserved their own till the enemy, whose main body they perceived rapidly advancing, was within forty yards, when it was poured in upon the French, and continued with such deadly effect, that it could not be withstood. The French fought bravely, but they were broken, and notwithstand- ing one or two efforts to make a stand and renew the attack, they were so successfully pushed by the British bayonet, and hewn down by the highland broadsword, that their discomfiture was complete. The battle was particularly severe on the French left, and the English right. This ground is very near the St. Lawrence, and but a little distance in front of the citadel, and all the events that passed there must have been distinctly seen by those on the walls of Quebec. It must have been a most interesting spectacle, and we can easily enter into the feel- ings of the American French, who viewed their country and their city, and their fire-sides and homes, as involved m the issue of this battle. With what emotions then must they have seen their defenders, not only falling in the ranks, but driven by the furious onset of the enemy to the walls of the city, where they were slaughtered by the bayonet and broad-swora, on the very glacis and in the ditches immediately under their eyes. About one thousand of the French were killed and wounded, and more than half that number of the English, and it is thought that the French army would have been totally destroyed if the city had not opened its gates to receive a part, and if another part had not taken refuge in the works over the St. Charles. Montcalm was on the French left, and Wolfe on the English right, and here they both fell in the critical moment that decided the victory. Wolte, early in the action, received a bullet in his wrist, but he bound it around with his handkerchief, and con- tinued to encourage his troops ; soon after, another ball pene- trated his groin ; but this wound, although much more severe, he concealed, and persevered till a third bullet pierced his breast. It was not till that moment that he submitted to be carried into the rear of the line : he was no longer able to stand, and leaned * Tlie ndvancud-guarUs had cxchangcNl hIioIs I'ur surne hours befurc. In the Autumn o/1819. 97 his head upon the shoulder of a lieutenant who sat down for that purpose— when, being aroused by the distant sound of " they tly— they fly," lie eagerly asked, «« who fly?" and being told it was the French, he replied, " then I die happy." He asked to be subtiiined on his feet that he might once more behold the Held, but his eyes were already swimming in death, his vision was gone, and he expired on the spot. This death has furnished a grand and pathetic subject for the painter, the poet, and the historian, and undoubtedly (considered as a specimen of mere military glo'T?) it is one of the i..ost sublime that the an- nals of war atford. From my earliest childhood I had ardently wished to see the plains of Abraham, and to stand on the place where Wolfe expired. To-day I enjoyed that pensive satisfac- tion, and easily passed in imagination from the quiet and secu- rity in which we saw these beautiful plains, to the tremendous collision of ten thousand men in arms. A round stone of red granite, four or five feet by two or three in diameter — not a fixed rock, but a loose stone, marks the spot where Wolfe expired in the moment of victory. This stone Was placed here thirty* years after the battle ; and is one of the four stones arranged in a meridian line by the surveyor-general of Canada, in 1790, for the purpose of adjusting the instruments used in the public surveys of land. This stone has been so much rounded, by having portions detached by visitors, that it was with the utmost diniculty I could knock on a small piece as relic. Fortunately the entire stone is too large to be carried away, and it cannot be broken to pieces except by gun-powder. A fine monument to Lord Nelson graces the market-place in Montreal — but there is no monument to Wolfe, even on the spot where he fell. When I expressed to an English officer my sur- ijrise at this omission, he reminded me (what indeed might have )een very obvious upon a little reflection,) that the feelings of a French population were not to be forgotten, and that such a monument might be off*en8ive to them.t The victorious hero has engrossed the plaudits of the world, but Montcalm deserved as much conunendation as Wolfe. Ex- cept the massacre at Fort William Henry, (which, however, it is said he exerted himself, although unsuccessfully, to prevent,) I know of no other imputation on his memory ; and in talent, military skill, and personal courage, and devotiun to his king * Hoiiclirtti". t Nearly opposite to our lodgings in St. Jolin-stroot is the riily monument o ' Wolfe wliicli we snw in Quebec. It is a statue, I bclioTo, of wood, hund- Homely carved, and uhout as large us lile ; n in in tlie militiiry costume of that day, and is said to be a good likeness of VVoH'e. It sliinds in a niulic, ill the angle of a house or shop, and oxpostnl to the weullier. VoVAGE» tfWrfTllAVEliS, Vol. VII. O ; ;» i • k ■IH f S^f * i « 1! 98 Tour to Quebec^ and country, he was in no way inferior to his rival. He survived long enough to write a letter, with his own hand, to the English general, recommending the French prisoners to his humanity, and when informed that his wound, was mortal, he expressed great satisfaction that he should not live to see the (all of Que- bec, which capitulated five days after. Montcalm's second in command, General Senezercus, also died of his wounds. Had Montcalm succeeded in preserving Canada from con- quest, and, had Quebec been successfully defended by his valour, his fame would have been extolled as much as that of Wolfe now is. This victory was in its consequences of immense importance. It eventually terminated a long coinse of bloody wars ; it gave permanent peace and securitv to the English colonies, rescued their vast frontier from all tne horrors of savage warfare, and even contributed largely to the general pacification of Europev It is one of the great epochs of American history. The French dominion in America, utterly incompatible with the repose or safety of the English settlements, and, after enduring one hun- dred and fifty years, was soon to be finally terminated. Thus a providence, probably at the time unseen and unobserved by any of the parties, was preparing the way for American independence. No American can, therefore, contemplate with indifference the spot where Wolfe fell, and so much gallant blood was spilt. The French had still a powerful army, and some naval force above the city, and, in the ensumg spring, Monsieur Levi approached it from Montreal, for the purpose of reco- vering it from the English. General Murray, who com- manded in Quebec, marched out to meet him, and, on the 28th of April, 1760, a bloody battle occurred three miles above the city, at Sillery ; the English army, very nnich inferior in numbers to the French, was severely defeated, with the loss of one thousand men ; and the French, it is said, suffered still more. The English retreated into Quebec, to which the French now laid siege, and veiy possibly would have reduced it but for the arrival of an English squadron with reinforcements, when they abandoned the siege and retired up the river. How large a portion of the history of modern Europe is occu- pied by the wars of Englantl and FraiKC J What rivers of each other's blood, as well as of the blood of other nations, have not these rival empires shed 1 Heroic, enlightened, refined, learned, enterprising, both claiming the name of christian ; had their efforts been equally directed to promote the welfare of their own respective dominions of each other, and of the world, by culti- vating the arts of peace and the virtues of civil life, what good might they not have done! But, like ferocious bea-ts of prey, th«y have hunted each other out of every niche and corucr of \ e survived le English liumHnity, expressed HI of Que- second in ids. from con- bis valour, of Wolle mportance. rs ; it gave es, rescued arfare, and of Europev The French B repose or ig one hun- d. Thus a 'ved by any lependence. ifercnce the ^as spih. some naval ;, Monsieur 3se of reco- who com- md, on the miles above 1 inferior in 1 the lt)ss of ?d still more. French now t but for tho I, when they •ope is occu- ivers of each ns, have not led, learned, I ; had their of their own Id, by culti- , what good a t5 of prey, nd corner of In the Autumn of IS 1 9. 99 the globe ; every colony, every little cluster of traders, or of agriculturalists — every wandering bark, if belonging to the rival power, has been exposed to these cruel assaults. in which quarter of the world, on what ocean or sea, in what country, on what island, or on what coast, of remotest India or America, have they not opened each others veins till the earth cries out upon them tor blood unrighteously shed! rORTIFICATlONS OP QUEBEC. The strongest town in America, and one of the strongest in the world, demands a brief notice in this respect, although it will be such as one unskilled in military afiairs can give. It is quite obvious, from what has been said, that Quebec is possessed of great natural advantages. The lofty perpendicular precipices of naked rock, which, on the south and east, separate a great part of the lower town from the upper, constitute in themselves, on those sides, an insurmountable barrier ; the river Charles, with its shallow waters and low Hats of sand and mud, drained almost dry by the retiring of the tide, forms an insuper- able impediment to the erection of commanding works, or to the location of ships on the east and the north, not to mention that all this ground is perfectly commanded by the guns from the upper town. The only vulnerable point is on the west and south from the plains of Abraham. Cape Diamond, the highest point of the town, it is true, is rather more elevated than any part of the plains,* but the highest ground on the plains of Abraham, (the place which is called Ferguson's house,) " com- mands most of the works on this side of the town ; besides, there is no barrier of rock, I'o river, ravine, marsh, or other natural obstacle, to hinder an approach upon this side ; this is the vulnerable side of Quebec, and here, therefore, it is fortified with the most anxious care. " The distance across the peninsula, from one river to the other, in front of the line of fortification, is one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven yards,"+ or very nearly one mile — the circuit within the walls is two miles and three-quarters — imme- diately without, it is probably three miles, and the average dia- meter is one thousand five hundred yards, or very nearly six- sevenths of a mile. A complete wall of massy stone, hewn, and laid up with ele- gance, as well as strength, completely encircles the town, and is furnished with strong massy arches and gates, and with deep ditches. It reminded me, much more than any thing that I * Only ten or fifteen feet. — fioiichetle. t Roucliette. 02 m ;i^ i'.'j >. 1 ' 1 11 100 Tow»* urse, so irked to the bat- :ross-fire t and in fifty feet formed, nt.* A ver wall, fore the ould be II. The trail, and n point tch,and reached, of rock, is called IS citadel ding, or id differs stronger, lich is a Ise, and braham. >wn, and Montreal . This I measure- Commands every part of the works on that side, and is intended, I presume, besides the general objects of defence, to operate in the last resort, on an enemy who may scale all the other walls. The citadel is forbidden ground, and, by rule, no person, not be- longing to the military, or the supreme ijfovernment, is admitted into it. By special favour, however, we enjoyed this gratifica- t' n; the sentry, at first, refused to let^us pass, although under patronage which commanded his respect, but at length, with much reluctance, he yielded. This course of conduct is usual in such places, and may be judicious here, as preventing numerous and troublesome visits; but it appears very unnecessary in a military point of view, for the more the strength of the citadel is made kno>yn, the less disposed, I am persuaded, will any enemy be to attack it. Com- modore Bainbridge, during his recent visit here, I understand, was freely shewn the citadel and every part of the fortifications ; and I heard a British officer say, that, in his view, it was quite ridiculous to pursue any other course, and to pretend to any se- crecy about the thing. Still, however, I suppose the officers have orders fi-om their superiors not to introduce persons here, for the day after we had been in the citadel, I was with two Bri- tish military men of considerable personal and official influence, and, while they were shewing me some apartments contiguous to the citadel, I hinted a wish to see it, if it could be permitted, but was answered politeli/^ although decidedl?/, that it could not. I did not tell them that I had already seen it. Every other part of the fortifications may be freely visited by every body, but, on the side next to the St. Charles river, the sentry refused to permit me to approach the embrasure ; I wished to see how high the wall was at that place. From the citadel, the view of the river, of the town, and of the surrounding country is, of course, extremely grand and beautiful, but, in this instance, the rapid advance of evening rendered the distant objects indistinct. We were, however, very forcibly struck with the formidable preparations, which seem on all sides to render an attack upon the place a hopeless enterprise. Within the walls are numerous magazines, furnished with every implement and preparation, and more or less proof against the various missiles of war. Piles of cannon-balls are every where to be seen, and, I presume, there are some hundreds of heavy cannon mounted on the walls, and in the various de- fences. About forty acres of ground, within Cape Diamond, are reserved for military works.* Beyond the walls, on the plains of Abraham, are the four '■■■■'^■I' J I ■ ^f ■ ' — * ■ I I IP I -■■ ■ ■■ '— ■■■ " - ■■■■!■ II ■ — ,■■■ ■■■■-— I ■ I -P • Bouchette. i i( ' 1)1 .:!! i J; » '' I i t - r ! ■ ' . i ' ! ^^B'.l JO;^ Tour to Quebec. Martello towers already mentioned; they are solidly constructed of stone, and appear to be forty feet high, and, at the base, havti probably a diameter not much interior; as they have cannon on their tops, they, of course, sweep the whole plain, and etfectually command it; the particular object of their construction was to prevent an enemy from occupying the high ground on the plains of Abraham. Ihese towers are very strong, on the side farthest from the town, and weaker on the side next to it, that they may be battered from it, should an enemy obtain possession of them. On the whole, as long as the river is in possession of those who delend the town, and as long as the latter is suihciently fur- nished with men, and other means necessary to render its tortiii- cations eflicient, there appears little hope of taking it at all, and certainly not without such an expense of blood as it is very painful to contemplate. An officer of the garrison informed us, that it took him one hour and a half merely to visit all the sentinels on duty, upon the various stations on the walls ; this appears to evince, that the walls cannot be much less than three miles in circuit ; and the same military man gave it as his opinion, that it would require at least ten thousand men for a competent garrison. The cold is so intense in the winter nights, particularly on Cape Diamond, that the sentinels cannot stand it more than one hour, and are relieved at the expiration of that time. It is in vain to attempt to conceal, that the Canadians, and the government, in their various defences, (and it is said that still more expensive works are in contemplation, have reference to danger from ont^ one source. It is to be hoped that the attempt to take Quebec by force will never again be made, for, if it has already cost so much blood, with defences comparatively weak, what would it not cost now ?* DEA^U OF GENERAL MONTGOMERY. Every American on visiting Quebec, of course, inquires for the place where Montgomery and his associates lell. This ques- tion I proposed many times, without being able to obtain a sa- tisfactory answer, till, in my mineralogical visit to the lower ♦ Going into a book-store in Qnebcc, 1 observed in one or the Gazettes of ilie eil>, a paiagrapii, copied from a reeent American paper, to tliis effect, tiiat, if it siionld be ever desirable to take Quebec, it cou d, at any lime, be easily done in two months at the point of the bayonet. Surely such a remark is indecent, with respect to a people willt whom we are now in amity ; and, to any one who has ever seen Quebec, it appears superlatively ridiculous, and only exposes us to contempt ; an eflbrt to take the moon at the point of the bayonet, would be almost equally rational. Bti'ucted se, hav« nnon on ectually 1 was to te plains fartheuc ley may of them, of those itly fur- s fortitt- all, and painful him one y, upon Lce, that lit ; and J require larly on than one ns, and that still jrence to by force so much t not cost uires for iiis ques- lin a sa- le lower lazctfes or his effect, y liiuc, be a remark lit}' I and, idicuioiiB, '<« poiu$ q/f In the Autumn o/lSlO. 105 town, in which 1 knew that the event ocruired, I repeated my inquiries, till I ascertained the street, which, as described by his- torians, passes at the foot of Cape Diamond. Many persons in Quebec know little or nothing of the event, and many more feel no interest in the topic. I inquired in vain, at several houses and shops, within a few hundred yards of the [)lace, till at last I was so happy as to find an individual who appeared to be perfectly acquainted with the whole transaction, and from the precision and distinctness of his story, and the clear views he had of the ground, and of the event, I have no doubt that his information, as to the place, was correct. He was con- fident that he shewed me the exact spot where the barrier stood from which the fatal shot was fired, and the precise place where Montgomery and his companions were cut down. The place is immediately under Cape Diamond, and was, at that time, as it is now, a very narrow pass, between the foot of the impending precipice and the shore ; vessels then were moored to rings fixed in the rock, some of which rings still remain, although wharfs have been since constructed at the water's edge ; now there is a road just wide enough for a cart; it has been cut out of the solid rock. The American camp was on the plains of Abraham. Four points of attack were agreed on —two feints against the walls of the upper town, one at St. John's gate, and the other near the citadel, while two real assaults were to be directed against two other points, both in the lower town, but situated oil opposite sides. General Arnold led a party from the plains of Abraham, around by the river Charles, and assaulted the lower town on that side. In the mean time, General Montgomery approached under Cape Diamond. The pass at the foot of Cupe Diamond was probably then much narrower and more difficult than at present. The attempt was made at five o'clock, on the morning of Dec. 31, 1775, in the midstof a Canadian winter, and of a violent snow-storm, and of darkness. The path narrow and difficult at best, was then so much obstructed by enormous masses of ice, piled on each other, as to render the way almost impassable.* Montgomery's parly were therefore obliged to proceed in a narrow file, till they reached a picketted block-house, which formed the first barrier. The general assisted with his own hands in cutting down and removing the pickets, and the Canadian guard, stationed for its defence, having thrown away their arms, fled, after a harmless mndom fire. The next barrier was much more formidable; it was a small battery, whose cannon were loaded with grape-shot, * Marshall. m \ Mi ;( t ■i ^t '' f 104 2'our to Quebec, and as General Montgomery, with Captains Chcefioiimn and Macpherson, the latter of whom was his aid, and othei-s of llie bravest of his party, were pressing forward towards tliis barrier, a discharge of grape-shot killed the general and most of those near his person, and terminated the assault on that side of the town. It is said, that this second barrier had also been aban- doned, but that one or two persons returning to it, seized a slow match, and applied it to the gun, when tlie advancing parly were not more than forty yards from it. This occturence has been sometimes dirterently related. Some American gentlemen, who were at Quebec about sixteen years since, ^aw a man who asserted that he was the person who touched oil" the caimon, and what is very remarkable, he was a New-Englander. lie related, that the barrier was abandoned, and the party who had been sta- tioned at it were in full Hight ; but as it occurred to him that there was a loaded cannon, he turned, and discharged it at ran- dom, and then ran. This anecdote 1 had from one of the gen- tlemen who conversed with this man. That there was some such occurrence appears probable, and the following circumstances, having a similar bearing, were re- lated to me by the person who shewed me this fatal grouiul. The spot may be known at the present moinciJt, by its being somewhat farther up the river than the naval depot, where great numbers of heavy cannon are now lying. The battery stood on the first gentle declivity, beyond this pile of cannon, and the deaths happened on the level ground, about forty yards still far* ther on. My informant stated, that the people in the block- house, as he called it, loaded their catmon over-night, and re- tired to rest. It so happened, (and it was perfectly accidental) that a captain of a vessel in the port lodged in the block-house that night. He was an intemperate man, half delirioxis even when most sober, and never minded any one, or was nuich listened to by others. Early on the fatal morning, before it was light, he exclaimed, all of a sudden—" they are coming, I s r they are coming!" no one regarded him, but he got the iron-rods, which they used to touch olf the cannon, heated them, and fired the pieces. Inunediately rockets were seen to tly into the air, which were signals to the party of Arnold, that all was lost. When light returned. General Montgomery, his aids, and many others, in the whole twenty-seven, (as he stated,) were found either dead or grievously wounded. Thus I have had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing where both Wolte and Montgomery fell. Had the latter succeeded, his enterprize would liave been regarded as more gallant than even that of Wolfe. Probably the situation of the defences was fi In tht Auiuiun oriSlf). JOA being light rs, in Veiy different then from what it is now ; at present, such an attempt woiild be perfectly desperate, and could deserve no name but rashness. The mom ^ry of the trnnsaction appears, in a great measure, to have j)HSSod by, at Quebec, and L can even conceive that in twenty years more it may l)e dillicult to have the place accu- rately (lehiginited. It would be easy now, with nermissionof the government, to have an inscription ctit upon the neighbouring precipice of rock, which is not six feet from the place, and I pre- sume, were the recjuest properly preferred, no objection woula be made. " All enmity to Montgomery expired with his life, and the respect to his private character prevailed over all other consider- ations ; his dead body received every possible mark of distinction from the victors, an(l was interred in Quebec, with all the mili« tary honours due to a bravo soldier." " The nu)st j)owerful speakers in the Kritish ParliaTuent displayed their eloquence in praising his virtues and lamenting his liite. A great orator and veteran fellow-soldier of his, in the late war, shod abundance of tears, whilst he exi)atiated on their past liiendship and participa- tion of service in that season of entcrprize and glory, Even th© minister extolled his virtues."* During our visit to the citadel, the place of his interment was pointed out to us. His bones (as is well known) were recently transferred to New-York, more than forty years after their origi- nal interment, and now lie buried, contiguous to the monument erected by Congress, in front of St. Paul's Church. CASTLE OF ST. LOtriS AND THE LATE DUKE OF RICHMOND. On the scite of this building, and on the contiguous gi'ound* the French had a fortress, called St. Louis ; it covered four acres* and formed nearly a parallelogram. The present castle is a part of the curtain, connecting two of the bastiotis of the fort, or, at least, it is in the same place, for I am not certain that it lias not been mbuilt, since the destruction of the ancient fortress. This castle had been suffered to go to decay, but, in 1808, seven thousand pounds were voted for its repair and embellish- ment, and an adaitional sum at a subsequent ))eriod. Sir James Craig first occupied it after this resuscitation. The entire' establishment forms a square, of which the present oastle is the front, and the other parts are occupied by publio tiffices, ball-rooms, &c. and there are stables, a gtiard-house, andi- la riding-room, besides extensive gardens.t Without introduction we went to the castle of St. Louis^ and, * Aiinuiil R<;j;-istor, for 1770. V^ovACiEs rt^/(/ Travels, Vol. VtJ. t ft^uclictte. P |f'i-K M ^ M 106 Tour to Quebect as strangersj-preferred our request to see the interior. The sen- tinel and the servants gave us a ready admission. We were civilly conducted through its various apartments. They are numerous, but generally plain ; some are large and handsome, but they are inferior, in elegance, to the rooms in many private houses. The furniture, with some exceptions, is far from being splendid. Some articles are rich, but many are hardly worthy of the distinguished place which they occupy. Among the curiosities of the place is a famous round table, or rather half of a round table, with a circular place cut in the middle. This, it seems, is occupied by the host, when he drinks wine with his friends, who are arranged around him. That there may be no impediment to conviviality, not even the usual trouble of circulating the bottle, there is an ingenious machine of brass, shaped a little like a sextant, which can, at pleasure,, be attached to the table, or removed ; the centre embraces a pivot, on which it moves, and the periphery of the circle sustains the bottle ; the machine revolves in the plane of a hoHzontal circle, in other words, on the circular table ; this is effected merely by touching a spring ; the contrivance is certainly as important as it is original. I am not certain, however, to whom the honour of the inven- tion belongs, for we were assured in the castle, that the furniture descends, not as public, but as private property, and is paid for by each successive governor. This (if correctly stated) does not correspond with the usual munificence and dignity of the British government. The Duke of Richmond, the late Governor-general of the Canadas, is stated not to have been rich ; indeed, m Canada, the remark is made on all hands that he was poor. Still we were repeatedly assured that the duke's plate, which was lately sent back to England, was insured at forty thousand pounds, a snug fortune in itself for a private man, if not for a nobleman. We were introduced into the duke's private study and library ; the latter was not extensive, although the books were good ; we saw also his bed-room and bed, and, in short, all the apartments of the family. We asked for some personal relic of the duke, and they pre- sented to us a thermometrical register, kept by him, during the first seven months of the present year, and the first half oi Au- gust, ending with the time, (1 presume,) when he set forward on the journey during which he aied. The register is said to be in his own hand-writmg. As it is not oflen that wc obtain a docu- ment respecting Canadian temperature, and as this is interest- ing, on account of its origin, 1 will present an abstract of it in the form of result*. i he sen- e were hey are dsome, private being worthy 1 n d table, t in the e drinks That le usual nachine ^t.re,.be a pivot, lins the .1 circle, erely by rtant as e inven- iirniture paid for d) does y of the of the ada, the we were ely sent a snug library ; od; we rtnients ley pre- ring the fofAu- yrard on to be in a docu- nterest- of it in ( J In the Autumn o/" 1819. Av«rag;e teiiipera- A. D. 1819. •Tan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. (first 15 days) ture at uoon. 17" ab. 25 " 25 " 43 " 66 " 66 " 75 " 78 Jan. Feb. March A pril May June July 14 21 6 8 25 1 28 Coldest day at noun. 6" bel. Aug. The average of the three 6 r wiultT j spring 13 2 36 62 65 72 ab. 107 IJottesI I day at nuon. 23 410 ab. 9 42 (« i 3h 21 37 <( 29 64 t( April 29 ( May 4 ' June 6 { July 24 J Aug. 7 and 10 ( f 22" above ^55 t< (73 « 86 C months, Is ( summer } In January, the thermometer, at noon, on the 5th, 8th, and 29th, was 4° below 0. I have thrown away fi-actions of a degree. The thermometers with which the observations were made still hung in the room. It is well known that the duke died of hydrophobia ; and, it seems impossible to obtain in Canada, nay even u\ Quebec, and in the palace itself, a correct account of the circumstances that attended the calamity. As the subject, being of very recent oc- currence, has been much spoken of in our presence, and in all circles, I trust it will not be nidelicate, with respect to the friends of the deceased, or to the people recently under his government, if Iproceed to repeat some of the statements which we have heard. The person WHO shewed us the castle, and who, as we were in- formed, belonged to the duke's household, gave us the following account. It seems that the duke had a little dbg, to which he was innnoderately attached ; the dog's name was Blucher, and Bluciicr, we were told, was caressed with such fondness tliat he slept with his master, and was affectionately addressed by the aj)pellution of" my dear Blucher." This idolized animal was bitten in the neck by another dog, afterwards ascertained to be mad — the rencounter took place in the court-yard of the palace, and the duke, in whose presence it occurred, fidl of compassion for his poor dog, caught him up \\\ his arms, and applied his own lips to the part bitten ; others, as well as this man, have informed us, that it was thus the duke imbibed the poison, some say througli a cut in his lip, made by his razor, or through an accidental crack. The duke continued to sleep with the dog, which had not then, however, exhibited signs of nuidness. There are other persons, and among them some highly re- sj>ectable me!», attached to the army, who deny the above, and I \l\\ WJ ' M Tour io Quebec^ eay that the duke was bitten by a rabid fox, on-board the stdani* boat ; the fox and dog, it is said, were quarrelling, and the duke interfered to part them. Others assert, tliat the duke put his hand into the cage where tVie fox was confined ; and all who impute the event to the fox, declare that the hurt, which was on a hnger, was so extremely slight as not to be noticed at the time, nor thought of afterwards, till the hydrophobia came on. At the mansion-house in Montreal, where the duke always lodged, when in that city, we were assured by a respectable per- son in the house, that the duke certainly got his poison from his own dog ; that this story was told him by the servants of the duke, when they returned w^ith the dead body ; and, what is more, that he saw the letter which the di.ke wrote to his own daughter, the lady Mary, after his symptoms had manifested themselves, and when he was in immediate expectation of deatlu In this letter, the duke reminded his daughter of the incident which was related to us at the palace. Whichever story is true, it would appear that the duke came by his death in consequence of his attachment to his dog, and, surely, never was a valuable life more unhappily sacrificed.* The duke was up the country, near the Ottawa river, when the fatal symptoms appeared, but he persevered in his expedi- tion — travelled thirty miles on foot, the day before he died — concealed his complaint, and opposed it as long as possible — wrote his final farewell to the lady Mary, and the other children, in a long letter, which contained particular directions as to the disposition of the family — and met death, we must say, at least like a soldier, for a soldier he had been the greater part of his life. His complaint manifested itself, in the first instance, by an uneasmess at being upon the water, in the totn* which he was taking into the interior, and they were obliged to land him. A glass of wine, presented to him, produced his spasms, although it is said that, by covering his eyes with one hand, and holding the glass with the other, he succeeded in swallowing the wine ; but afterwards he could bear no liquids, and even the lather used in shaving distressed him. In the interva's of his spasn.s he was wonderfidly cool and col* lected — gave every necessary order to his servants, and to the officers of his suite — opposed the sending for a physician from Montreal, because, he said, the distance iiom it to Richmond, where he died, being eighty miles, he should be a dead man * 1 liavc never lind it in 11)3 power tcliii^ slHteinonfs, init J cannut tell in wimt pHrlirularit. All I •.iin Miy s, tliiit I j<'i\<' llie reports as 1 lu'uid (hem. 13 ht the Avtumn of IS19. l09 before the physician could amve, and seemed to contemplate the dreadful tate before him with the heroism, at least, of a martyr. In his turns of delirium, instead of barking and raving, as such fjatients are said usually to do, he employed liimselt in arranging lis imaginary troops, forming a line of battle, (for he had been present at many battles, and, last of all, at Waterloo* itself,) and gave particular commands to a captain in the navy, who was not present, but whom he called by name, to fire — and the command was often ^nd vehemently repeated. In a soliloquy, overheard but a few minutes before his death, he said, " Charles Lenox, Duke of Richmond ! — die like a man ! Shall it be said that Richmond was afraid to meet death — no, never !" I know not what were his grace's views on topics more ira* portant at such a crisis, than what our fellow-men will think of us ; but, there was a degree of grandeur, of the heioic kind, in finding a mihtary nobleman, cool and forecasting, in contempla- tion of one of the most awtlil of all deaths, and, even in his moments of delirium, like king Lear, raving in a style of sublimity. We were informed that, even in death, he did not forget Blucher, but ordered that he should be caged, and the event awaited. The dog was carried away with the family, when they sailed for England, although he had previously began to snap and tly at people. The duke appear? to be remembered with affection ; he was regarded as a very warm frienil to Canada, and all here believe that he had its interest;^ much at heart, and was actively engaged in promoting them. His liunily, consisting principally of daugh- ters, young and unmarried, with very slender resources, and in a foreign land, received the appalling news at the castle of St. Louis, and soon the sad tidings were followed by the breathless body. One daughter is married to Sir Peregrine Maitland, Governor of Upper Canada, and the lady Mary, the eldest of the renuiiu' ing daughters, is spoken of (although without any intended tlis- paragenieiit to the other children,) in the highest terms. We saw lire-screens, prettily inscribed with verses, and ornamented by her hand ; and the person who attended us gave each of us a walking-stick, cut by the duke's own hand, in his last excur- sion. Tliere was a large bundle of them done up by strings, and it seems it was the duke's custon), when he saw a stick that pleased him, to stop and cut it. Sir Peregrine Maitland, and his lady and tlunily, lodged in the same house with us, at Mt)ntreal, and appearetl plain, unassum- ing people. While there, they received the calls of the princi))al * I >vits iiilVtriix'd liv It Hrilixli nlDccr, Ihiil lie- ; the principal ones a ;ijse parallel to the river, of which those of St. Paul, which is a . istlin ^ street of business, near the river, and Notre Dame-street, oi higlMci- gio ul, and more quiet, more genteel, and better built are ihe p tci- pal; the latter street is thirty feet wide, and tin '-fourths )f a mile long. A lew of those which intersect the above streets at right angles are also considerable. The town has a crowded active population, and many strangers and persons from the country augment the activity in its streets. But the circumstance which assimilates it most to a continental European town, is its being built of stone. People from the United States are apt to consider Montreal as gloomy, and I pre- sume it arises from the fact of its being built of stone, and prin- cipally in an antique fashion. The former is, however, in reality a strong around of preference over our cities, built of wood and brick. Stone is the best material of which houses can be con- structed ; if properly built, they are not damp in the least ; they exclude botli heat and cold better than ai\y other houses ; they will not burn, except in part, and scarcely need repair, and they are easily made very handsome. Indeed no other material pos- sesses sufficient dignity for expensive public edifices; and we were sorry to see even a few private houses in the suburbs of Montreal built of brick, in the Anglo-American style. Montreal is certainly a fine town of its kind, and it were much to be wished that the people of the United States would imitate the Canadians, by constructing their houses, wherever practicable, of stone. The environs of Montreal are beautiful, but although considerably cultivated and improved, they are far from being brought to the state of which they are capable. A number of handsome villas now make their appearance around the town, and there are numerous scites still unoccupied, which will probably be hereafter crowned with elegant seats. Few places in the world possess more capabilities of this kind than Quebec and Montreal; if the latter is less bold than the former in its scenery, it possesses much richness and delicate beauty, which need nothing but wealth and taste to display them to advantage; the former already exists in Montreal to a great extent, and there are also very respectable proofs of the existence and growth of the latter. MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ON MONTREAL. TiiiT city is in latitude 45" ^l' north, atid in longitude 73 ' 35' west fioin (jieenwich. It covets one thousand and tweiUy acres i ill :!'. f 118 Tour to Quebec, ' ■ !( t !i •■ -1 I.- ■ " ■■ ' 1^ li (! — ^what was within the old fortifications was only one hundred acres. Its climate is very considerably milder than that of Quebec, and most persons would probably consider it as a more desirable residence. In regard to acconnnodations, it is so to a stranger, who will look in vain, in Quebec, for an establishment equal to the Mansion-House. He will find indeed in Quebec a good table, but there are deficiencies on other topics, to which an American from the United States, and still more perhaps an Englishman, will not easily be reconciled. The following facts* as to the extent of some of the public establishments of Montreal, may be of some use towards a cor- rect estimation of the public spirit of the country, especially of that which prevailed under the French dominion. The Hotel Dieu, founded in 1644, is three hundred and twenty-four feet in front, by four hundred and sixty-eight deep ; it is attended by thirty-six nuns, who administer to the sick and diseased of both sexes. The Convent of La Congregation de Notre Dame forms a range of buildings two hundred and tliirty-tonr feet in front, by four hundred and thirty-three ; the object of this institution is female instruction. The General Hospital, or Convent of the Grey Sisters, was founded in 1750 : it occupies a space along the little river St. Pierre of six hundred and seventy-eight feet, and is a refuge for the infirm poor and invalids. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is one hundred and forty-four feet by ninety-four ; this church we thought, in some respects, more splendid in the interior, but less grand than that at Quebec. It contains, among other things, a gigantic wooden image of the Saviour on the cross. The cathedral stands completely in the street of Notre Dame, across the Place d'Armes, and entirely obstructs the view up and down the street. This church is, on the outside, rude and unsightly. The English cathedral is the finest building in Montreal— its tower, which is unfinished, is still in progress ; this church is very large, but I did not learn its dimensions. Those whom we saw attending worship in it, were persons of very genteel appear- ance, including many military men, but the church would nave held ten times as many as were present. The seminary of St. Sulpice occupies three sides of a square, and is one hundred and thirty-two feet by ninety, with spacious gardens. It was founded about 1637. The new college, or Petit Seminaire, is in the Recollet su- burbs; it is two hundred and ten feet by forty-five, with a wing * Boiicliclto. le hundred n that of as a more is so to a iblishment Quebec a , to which serhaps an the public irds a cor- aecially of idred and ght deep ; e sick and ne forms a 1 front, by titution is sters, was 2 river St. refuge for forty-four J respects, Lt Quebec, age of the tely in the d entirely irch is, on Ureal— its church is whom we el appear- ould nave a square, I spacious collet su- :h a wing In the AiUuinn of 1819. 1 19 at each end, of one hundred and eighty-six feet by forty-five; it is an appenduge of the other seminary, and designed to extend its uselulness by enlarging its accommodations. There is near the mountain of Montreal another appendage of the seminary. It appears to be about a mile from the town ; it is a considerable stone-building, surrounded by a massy wall, which encloses extensive gardens, &c. This place was for- merly called Clateau des Seigneurs de Montreal, but now it has the ap{)ellation of La Maison des Pretres. It is a place of re- creation, resorted to once a-week, by both the superiors and pupils of the seminary. There is no English college in Canada, but a foundation for one has been laid by a gentl?man,* who died in 1814, and be- queathed ten thousand pounds, besides a handsome real estate at the mountain near Montreal, " for the purpose of endowing an English college ; but, upon condition, that such an institution should be erected within ten years, otherwise the property was to revert to his heirs." I have not heard that the plan has ever been carried into execution. I know nothing that has excited my surprise more in Canada than the number, extent, and variety of the French institutions, many of them intrinsically of the highest importance, and all of them (according to their views) possessing that character. They are the more extraordinary when we consider that most of them are more than a century old, and that at the time of their foun- dation the colony was feeblfe, and almost constantly engaged in war. It would seem, from these facts, as if the French must have contemplated the establishment of a permanent and even- tually of a great empire in America, and this is the more probable, as most of these institutions were founded during the ambitious, splendid, and enterprising reign of Louis XI V^. The agricultural productions of the country are very fine ; in no respect inferior to those of the United States, and they are evidently raised, in Lower Canada, in greater profusion, and with greater ease, than with us. The market in Montreal is ex- cellent ; it contains, according to the season, all kinds of meats, with abundance of fowl, game, fish, and vegetables, in fine order. The fine champaign country, which occupies so large a part of Lower Canada, is exceedingly fertile, and, although we are accustomed to consider the climate as very severe, it is evidently very healthy ; with the contrivances which exist here, for pro- ducing and preserving heat, and for excluding cold, the climate is, by all accounts, very comfortable ; and it does not appear * Hon. James M'Gill. If M PI m !i| 120 Tour to Quebec, that it prevents the inliabitants from enjoying nearly every pro- duction of the earth, which is known in the States bordering on Canada. Their potatoes and cauhllowers are particularly cn)o;l, and are raised with great ease. The only article which we have found generally bad in this co\intry has been bread. The best which we have seen has been only tolerable, and most of it has been so sour, dark-co- loured, and bitter, that it took some time to reconcile us to it in any degree. We were beyond measure astvinished at the badness of this article, especially as it is so good in England, and in the cities of the United States, and as so many of the Canadians are perfectly acquainted with both countries. Lower Canada is a fine country, and will hereafter become populous and powerful, especially as the British and Anglo- American population shall tlow in more extensively, and impart more vigour and activity to the comnumity. The climate, not- withstanding its severity, is a good one and very healthy, and favourable to the freshness and beauty of the human complexion. All the most important comforts of life are easily and abundantly obtained, although the expences of living are high, considering the fertility of the country. A more correct knowledge of Canada is now fast diffusing itself through the American States, since the intercourse is become so easy, and I believe few Americans from the States now visit this country, without returning more favourably impressed respect- ing it than they exj)ccted to be. It will l)e happy if friendly sentiments and the interchange of mutual courtesies shall do away the untbiuuiod impressions and prejudices of both comnui- nities. Commercial intercourse between the two countries is also important, and, I |)resume, mutually advantageous, and will probably conti\uie to increase. The commercial men of Canada are principally British and Americans. DKPARTURE FROM CANADA. Wi; left Montreal on the morning of the f()urt(enth, in a thick snow, which, however, soon ceased ; the crystals of snow were all single prisms, or two prisms, united at an angle, and not the usual star of six rays. The first wnow of the season fell the day before, when I was on the mountain of Montreal. From Montreal to Chambly, fitleen miles, is a perfectly flat alluvial country, with a deep rich soil, and appears tt) have been a mere swamp, till cultivation had redeemeil it. The roati has been made by ditching ai\d embankment, and considering the nature of the country, the road is not bud. Chambly is a considerably large town for Canada, contains h every pro- orderhig on ilarly goo;!, bad In tliis ve seen has ir, (lark-co- e us to it in the badness and in tlio nadians are ler become ind Anglo- and impart limate, not- lealthy, and ;omplexion. abundantly considerinir c5 m 'using itself h become so pw visit tliis sed respect- y if friendly es shall do oth commu- countries is )us, and will 11 of Canada hi in a thick snow were and not the tell the day erfcctly flat ) have bcni le road has idering the contains a ^ In the Autumn o/1819. Ifl few good, and some handsome houses, extensive barracks,* both for infantry and cavalry, and a tew troops. At Clmmbly, iLe river Sorel, which, both r.bove and below, is sluggish, (at least it is so near its mouth and at St. tFohn's) beco res very lively, roll- ing over a rocky botlon\, and forming a pretty although not an impetuous rapid. In the only place upon its banks, wliere I had an opportunity to see any of the rocks, they were flat secondary limestone covered by slate. From Chambly to St. John's, twelve miles, there is a beau- tiful country, along the bank of the river ; the population is a numerous one, and in sunnner this must be one of the flnest rides that a flat country can present. Near Chambly, but on the other side of the river, there is a large and handsome house belonging to General Christie Burton, who has there an estab- lishment of mills. We arrived in the town of St. John's in the afternoon. We were very comfortably acconunodatod at Cameron's Inn ; but St. John's is a place in which a stranger will not wish to remain long. Although the country is tertile about it, its appearance is mean, dirty, and disagreeable. A few troo))s are stationed here, but the ancient fort, whicii was very extensive, and siill looks very venerable with its high earthen walls and falling bur- racks, is an interesting ruin. It was cajilured in 177.3 by Gene- ral Montgomery, after a gallant defence, and a considerably protiacted siege. Ocloher 15//i.— At eight o'clock in the morning, wo left St. John's in the steam-boat Congress, and although encountering both an opposing wind and current, we swept along with great rapidity in one of the swiftest and best boats that I have ever seen. She is not large, but is fitted up with great neatness, and every thing about her is in fine order. We soon passed the Isle aux Noix, which, as observed in the passage down, has also been celebrated in the military history of these cotmtries, and is now fortified and occupied by a con- siderable force. Troops appeared to be engaged n» throwing up additional works. There are large barracks on this island, and numbers of otttcers reside here, on this low spot, of only eighty- five acres, in what appears a gloonjy exile. This island is par- ticularly important to the naval connnand of J^ake Champlain, and heie the unfortunate Captain Downie's squadron was fitted out. • Ercctwd, priiici|mlly, daring; tlir Inle w Hr, wlicn it was n pnaf ujililary stiition. Voyages ^/wr/ Trax 1,1. «, Vol. VII, il i r I if I' ' t !■ ' 1*2 Tour to Quebec, A I Rouse's Pi)int, at the continence ot the river Sorcl with Lake ChuinpUiin, we again y)aHsed the sirong stone-work recently erected by the United States to connnand the river, and now about to Ml to the British government. Once more we were in our own waters, and in a short time passed around Cumberland Head, which is composed of Hat strata of secondary limestone. BURLINGTON, IN VERMONT, TO HANOVER, IN NEW HAMP- SHIRE, 84 MILES. We were on the road three days, and, as it is not remark- ably interesting, except for its wild Alpine scenery, I shall give but a sketch of it. Burlington is one of the most beaatiful villages in New-Enff- land. It stands on a bav of the same name, is a port of entry, and has a population of probably nearly two thousand. Ris- ing rapidly from the lake, and occupying the declivity and top of a high hill — abounding with elegant houses — generally large and painted white — having several handsome public buildings, and (the most conspicuous and commanding of them all,) a col- lege, situated on the most elevated ground, three hundred and thirty feet above tlie surface of the water ; the impressions which it makes on ii stranger are very agreeable, and the more so, as it is scarcely forty years since this region was a wilderness. Its builditigs arc a court-house, a jail, an academy, a college, two handsome houses of public worship, one hundred and sixty dwelling-houses, and forty-three stores, offices, and mechanics* shops. It is the most conunercial place on the lake.* It is worth a journey across the green mountains, which occupy almost the entire breadth of Vermont, and from which the state derives its name, to see the grand views which they present. There is, in fact, a succession of mountains, one, two, three, and four thousand feet high ; not here and there a single ))eak, but a vast billowy ocean, swelled into innumerable pointed waves, and bold ridges, and scot)ped into deep hollows. According to the barometrical measurement of Captain Part- ridge, the Camel's Rump, twenty miles east by south from Burlington, is about four thousandt feet high, and many others approach this elevation. At Montpelier, in a low valley, forty miles from the lake, wc found the legislature of Vermont convened. Montpelier is u small and rather neat village, of about one hundred families; the tovvnship in which it is situated contains nearly two thousand * Won-fMcr's (Jii/fltrrr. \ 'J'liiro llioiiHniiil Itnii hiiiulifd. — U »»i(C!f(» i'.> (InrPllc't^i. Jti I hi zli((.utini t[) \b\\). l'.'"^ -.xJ Old witli V recently and now hort time Jcl of flat W HAMP- t remark- shall give >few-Eng- of entry, nd. Ris- y and top rally large buildings, ill,) a col- idred and ans which ore so, as ness. Its liege, two and sixty lechanics' IS, which om which 'hich they , one, two, re a single lie poii.ted vs. •tain Part- )ulh ironi any others p lake, we )elier is a i Himilics; > thousand PI. people; but this place is so seoluded, that it seeais as if the government had sought rotireinent more than publicity, in lixing itself here. It is ])robable, however, that it was rather a regard to a central position, a- this place is only leu miles from the centre of the btate. Th roads were good through our whole journey to Hanover, except the ellects oi' recent rains, and con- sidering the mountainous nature of the country. Wherever practicable they have followed the river courses along the allu- vial bottoms, and, where they have wound around tlie hills, it is done with great skill and judgment. Very frequently we rode for miles on precipices, where tiie descent was, for a great many yards down, almost perfectly abrupt, and a slight deviation wonld have been Uital. When we arrived at the height of land, which was about sixty miles from the lake, (lie streams, now lending towards the C-OMuecticut, indicated our course, and, tor six or seven miles, we descended with great rapi.tity, the carriiige almost constantly urging the horses forward, and at last we tound lodgings in the beautiful valley of Chelsea, completely environed by mountains, which being free from wood, and prettily dotted here and there with flocks of sheep, reminded me cheerfully of the Derbyshire scenery. The village was very neat, with one of the best inns which we had seen ; we were received with the kindness of a home, and with almost all its comforts. The next day ((October 18th,) we arrived at Hanover, in New-Hampshire, having crossed the Connecticut river from the pretty town of Norwich, on a bridge. IIANOVER. Oct. 18. — Tins handsome village, of about sixty houses, is an agreeable object io a traveller. It is built principally upon a small hollow square, which is a beautiful green. Most of the houses are very neat, and some are large and handsome. The greater part are |)ainted white, and have that lively appearance so conunon in the villages of New-England. RIDE DOWN CONNECTICUT RIVEK. Oct. 19. — We passed down the New-Hampshire side of the river, eighteen miles, and dien crossed into Vermont, at the beau* tiful town of Windsor, containing two thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven inhiibitants.* The town has a inagniKcent back-ground in the high moun- tain Ascutney, measuring three thousand three hundred and twenty leet above the sea, ami two thousand nine hundred and ♦ Wdrt't-sli'i'K (!it/t'U«'»'r. jfittriSUr^- ' -— : 154 T'our to Quebec. « 'I 1/ three above the surface of the river.* The form of the moun- tain is handsome, and presents naked rocks at its summit. From Windsor we passed down the V^ermont side of the river to Charlestown, where we again crossed into New-Hampshire. We saw on our ride the establishment of Mr. Jarvis, formerly a consul abroad. He has a very extensive farm, and an entire village, named Wetherstield, is owned by him, and occupied by his tenants. We passed the night at Charlestown. This is another village remarkable for beauty. It is built upon one street, which is very wide, and, for nearly a mile, the houses are planted at distances convenient both for neighbourhood and accommodation. Here, as at Windsor, a large proportion are very handsome, and there is an extreme degree of neatness in the fields, gardens, and door-yards. The verdure being still fine, notwithstanding the period of the year, was charmingly contrasted with the bril- liant white of the houses. From Hanover to this place the river Connecticut flows in a narrow channel, in most places so confined by veiy high ground, and sometimes by mountains, that it seems to run in the only possible place, and the channel appears as if it had been cut by art, and laid with exquisite skill through an almost impervious country. Rarely do the precipitous banks retire so as to leave any meadows or flat lands upon the border, and the country ap- pears not remarkably fertile. The pines still occupy a consider- able portion of it, but most of the large ones are cut away ; here and there an ancient tree still raises its head to the winds, and towers above its compeers. In many parts of this region, very formidable fences are made by pulling up the stumps of the gigantic pine-trees, and arranging them in a row with their roots interlocked. BELLOWS FALLS. This place is worth visiting, both for its bold and picturesque scenery, and for the interesting nature of its mineralogy and geology. On approaching Bellows Falls from the north, the traveller is first struck by the elegant appearance of the small village of Rock- ingham, situated on the Vermont side of the river, upon ground pleasantly elevated. A neat church, semi-gothic, and several fieats of gentry, who have clustered about these falls, are finely contrasted with the wildness and rudeness of the surrounding scenery. On the New-Hampshire side, a very high ridge of * Acrordinp to C»p«ain Partriiln;c'« nieasiirement. This gentleman is f'Hliiltlishin); a milittiry arndpiiiy nt Norwioli, oppoHito to llaiiovcr, and a Urjfu hiiilding i» now urecliiiK for Ihii purpose. J moun- lit. he river iipshire. L'luerly a n entire ipied by r village 1 is very Listances 1. mdsome, gardens, standing the bril- lows in a I ground, the only in cut by ipervious i to leave imtry ap- consider- ^ay ; here inds, and fion, very ps of the heir roots cturesque logy and traveller is ! of Rock- >n ground kd several are finely rrounding I ridge of )iitlcman is [)vcr, and % In Uic Autumn o/l8l9. 125 mountain-iock, 1 presume five or six liundred feet above the level of the river, lornis its immediate barrier, there being only just room for a narrow road between it and the Connecticut. Immeduitely at the foot of this fiowuing and impending moun- tain, is an elej^ant establishment belon>>in.i£ to a gentleman who 11 1 COO seems not to loel what every observer must dread, that his house may be crushed by tailing rocks. Bellows Falls, as a piece of scenery, are peculiar on account of a certain snugness, which marks the entire collection of moun- tains, rocks, and river-torrent, and pretty houses, which are all approached without the slightest inconvenience, and are com- prised within a very small compass. On the west side there is a canal half-a-mile long, around the falls ; it has nine locks. From Bellows Falls we passed down to Walpole. This is another handsome village ; some of the houses are splendid. Putney, on the Vermont side, presented nothing particularly in- teresiinif. We reached Brattleborough at eveninff, and there passed tlie night. In Dummerston 1 saw a great slate quarry : the strata were vertical, and the excavation was like a deep canal, so that as I walked into it, the perpendicular strata formed a perfect wall on both sides, and I trod on their edges. It was a fine example of primitive roofing slate ; and from this place and the vicinity, as Brattleborough, &c. it is extensively quarried, and carried down the river. In speaking of the villages on Connecticut river, I often use the epithets beautiful, handsome, &c. till they are in danger of becoming trite. Still I must repeat them with respect to the eastern* village of Brattleborough. This village is built principally upon one street, and contains very few houses or shops that are not an ornament to the place. The street is parallel to the river, and passes throtigh luxuriant meadows, spreading into an extensive champaign, bounded by the Connecticut, which here for miles washes the base of a grand mountain-barrier that liuiits the view on the east. This view was best seen in retrospect as we rose the hill, at the south end of the town. Thence we saw this mountain-range, probably here one thousand* feet high, covered with the richest drapery of the forest, and stretching away to the north, while the Con- necticut gently washed its toot, and the pretty village, with its white houses and brilliant church, rose ni the midst of a rich meadow. But the most interesting object in Brattleborough is its vene- • The other villag^c 1 did not soc. |- Thin is a conjcoliirr merely : I know not ol'any incnsiiienifnt. i 'It, /; < V I ,}( 12(> Toio' tu Quebec. nihlc! pastor, vvitli whom ut his pleasant rural abode we luul (he honour of'an evening interview. At the age of seventy-live, he has recently returned fioni England, 'lis native country, after a visit of eighteen months. He had been abgent trom England twenty- five years, and found, on returning to his native town, which, (except occasional visits,) he left sixty-three years since, t\vd.t but one person remembered him. Even the monuments of his con- temporaries in the grave-yard, were so moss-grown, that he coidd not read the inscriptions, and those of the persons who liad died more recently he did not know. He found, however, many friends in various parts of England, who remembered him with aifection. The country appeared to hiin greatly improved, and to exhibit the most decided proofs of a tlniving condition ; but his adopted country he greatly prefers, and gladly returned to endhis days in it. The venerable man, at once an instructive and delightl'ul Mentor, entertained us with many of the incidents of his tour, the relation of which was enlivened by the most interesting remarks. * * Oct. 21s/. — We left Brattleborough in the morning, and eleven miles below crossed the bridge into Northfield, in Massachusetts. NorthHeld is a neat village, on a wide street situated on a hill, but the houses are plain; the place had, however, an air of comfort and snugness. Passing down through Northfield into Montague, we came to extensive ranges of primitive rocks, chiefly gneiss ; but in them occurred great beds of granite, the first that I had seen in place on our whole journey. Primitive roclcs continued to the upper lock of Miller's Falls : the canal here is cut through a coarse conglomerate, composed of fragments of primitive rocks. The scenery at this place is handsome ; and at the confluence of Miller's River with the Connecticut, the latter forms a great bow, and looks like a lake surrounded by high hills. Several miles below, we came to Miller's Falls. The river runs nearly north-west, and is precipitated over the strata, which at this place cross the river, and form a natural dam. The rocks which form the natural dam at Miller's Falls are composed of fragments of primitive rocks ; but generally these fragments are not large, rarely exceeding an inch or two in diameter, and generally smaller than that. The strata have an inclination of forty-five degrees, and have every mark of the earliest class of fragmented rocks. Are they not a variety of Greywacke? Their direction is nearly north-east and south-west. We crossed the Connecticut again, at the place where, by com- pleting its great bend, it returns to its usual direction of north f.l Imd (lie , he has I visit of twenty- , wliich, that but his con- le couhl lad died friends tfection. libit the It in pled ays in it. lio-htlul lis tour, leniarks. * d eleven husetts. >n a hill, n air of came to in them in place lie upper a coarse i. nfluence 5 a great he river 2 strata, m. The omposed agmenta 2ter, and lation of class of ywacke ? by com- Dt nurtU In the Aulunin of 1819. V21 and south. We now arrived in the town ol' (Greenfield, and on {isccnding the hill from the river, I saw, for the first time, in this ])art of the country, trap rocks in place. They here constitute an extensive range, extremely well characterized, and, (agreeably to Mr. Hitchcock's excellent account of the geology of this vi- cinity,*) form, vert/ nearl?/, the northern extremity of the great trap ranges, which commence at New-IIaven and cross com- pletely both the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut. t The fragn>.ented rocks, which, in nearly the whole of this range, lie beneath the trap, 1 here had the ])leasure of seeing emerge from under it, at a high angle of inclination, and at a high elevation, on the side next to the villajie of Cireentield. From the hill in question, we had a line view of this village, which stands principally on two intersecting streets; has a number of handsome houses, and, for a country-town, an un- common proportion of brick buildings. Walpole also has a number, and Windsor a larger number than either, (jlreenfiehl stands two miles from Connecticut river, on a high plain, which declines gently to the west. It has handsome churches, a court- house, a jail, &c. DEEIiriELD. Just at evening we drove over to Deerfield, a distance of three miles, through the most luxuriant and beautiful country that we had seen in our whole journey. This country is the fine alluvial region intersected by the Ueerfield river, and probably formed by it, as the alluviid countries on rivers generally appear to be. Even now, in the latter part of October, the grass is most vividly green, thickly matted, and rich as the shag of velvet. 'JMie remains of the crops of corn evinced also great jjioductivc- ness, and seemed almost to realize the fables of the golden ages. We were comfortably lodged in a good inn,' just in time to visit, before dark, a very interesting antic[uity in this town. Decrlield is a plain venerable town, with good buildings, but not many of them are in the modern style; this circumstance is, however, rather pleasing than otherwise. Deerfield extends about a mile on one street; it has a highly respectable academy, the finest meadows in New England, antl a very interesting an- cient history, upon which 1 have no time to enlarge. Oct. 22. — We left Deerfield on a fine morning, and extended * .^<«' Ani'iiciui.loiiriial (ifSctnirr, vol. I. j Tlif 511111(1 llial, ill .skclcliiii;!; Ilio sToiiPiy in tlio midtllr rcf^iuii olCoiilHC- liriil, wuio (lest iil);'(l eoil} in tliis m)Iiiihc. Wt ' i li ■ . 1 M \ 1 1 r ' k }^' ■ : ? > i' If f .' ( ( % m- ■ ' 1 •^ 1 ^ .* : 1 , •:y^' • ■ '( . :.f ' :i ' ■ ■*■' • '■ i ' ^ ' , t t •>, .»f i, -^ i 1 i ■ .- ' i ■■i^v-^' ' -^r* , .i.'+k' ■\ t^-:'- ' . s ■ M S: , i JX ^ »^ .'• ) ■ 1 ' ^^ V.'* '.■i-T k 1 i*;: Ij , ■V-.- » • #^ ■• 128 JVwr to Quebec, S^-c. our ride thirty-eight miles, to Springfield. We followed the Deerfield mountain — crossed the iatai, bloody, (or, as it is now called, muddy) brook, where, on the 12lh of September, 1075, Captain Lathrop, with almost his whole company, of ninety or an hundred young men, the tiower of that region, was cut off by the Indians, who, to the number of seven or eight hundred, at- tacked them by surprise, when, as is said, most of the party were engaged in gatheiing grapes. We rode down to the ferry at Sunderland, to obtain a good view of the Sugar-Loaf Mountain, which is so well described by Mr. Hitchcock,* that I have scarcely occasion to remark, that it is composed of conglomerate rock, and that the mountain back of it is trap. We crossed through Hatfield over to Hadley, and thence into Northampton, where we dined. — It is hardly necessary to say any thing of these scenes, which are so luxuriant, and so well known, that their beauty is quite proverbial. Hatfield and Hadley are neat and venerable places, id Nor- thampton is one of the finest inland towns in America. The great bends of the river here— the bold scenei-y of Mount Holyoke, and Mount Tom, and the rich and grand landscape, from their summits, particularly from the former, have been often described and can hardly be exaggerated. Oct. 23. — We passed the last night at Spring-field, which iii beauty hardly yields to any town on the river. In the morning I visited the United States armory, and was much gratified ; for order, neatness, and high excellence in every department, under the able management of Colonel Lee, it merits the highest eu- logium. We proceeded through Long Meadow to Enfield, and, at the bridge, on the eastern side,"! was pleased to observe the sand- stone rocks, filled with the remains of vegetables, bituminized and carbonized, and affording one indication, among many, of a region containing coal. TL'.s, and the contiguous places, should be more attentively examined. Through Windsor, we proceeded to Hartford, and, arriving there before evening, almost five weeks from the time of our de- parture, found those in health and prosperity who were most in- teresting to us ; and, in the retrospect, perceived much cause for satisfaction, and still more for gratitude, that, in travelling nearly twelve hundred miles, not one disaster, nor one serious disap- pointment, had given us occasion to regret the undertaking. * American Journal orSriciice. 11 MS. followed the ', as it is now ember, lb75, , of ninety or vas cut off by hundred, at- le party were btain a good described by remark, that lountain back d thence into ary to say any ) well known, es, id Nor- ica. LCJ-y of liibunt id landscape, Lve been often eld, which in [ the morning gratified ; for tment, under ie highest eu- 1, and, at the rve the sand- bituminized ig many, of a )laces, should and, arriving ne of our de- vere most in- uch cause for veiling nearly serious disap- ertaking.